The New Eclipse
by Luponus Draconus
Summary: With Malefor defeated, a new age of peace and prosperity has began. Spyro and Cynder now lead normal lives within the walls of Warfang and the memories of the adventure slowly fading. However a dragon from Cynder's past arrives a the gates, causing everything to come back. How will this dragon affect our heroes? Can Cynder choose between her reawakened past or the bright future?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N I wrote the orginal New Eclipse two years ago and in order to get back into the flow of writing I decided to rewrite it to hopefully be better. This version will be different to the old one, no one is safe. If you enjoy please say so, favorite and follow if you want to stay up to date. Constructive criticism is welcome but don't try to be nasty, no one likes a nasty review. Until next time folks!**

The Dark Master has been defeated, and the world was put back together by Spyro the last purple dragon. The dragons returned to the city to be greeted by a celebration and an official ceremony proclaiming them as heroes. The entire week following their return was a city-wide party, even a statue was made in their honor. After that everything was slow for the next five months.

Cynder appreciated these past few months, it's been refreshing to be able to rest and clear her mind. She often found herself watching the clouds in a small park by her room. To her, nothing was more peaceful than anything else in the city. Today, her mind fell back to those last moments where she confessed to her companion. Did he even hear me? Does he not feel the same way and sparing my own feelings? Maybe he just doesn't know how to respond to it. Getting up from the grass, she began wandering the streets.

Since the fall of Malefor, dragons from over the continent came out of hiding. They flocked to Warfang seeking shelter and safety from the remnants of his forces. The city never looked so full, dragons ranging from the darkest black to the lightest white roamed the city streets. Moles ran between the lumbering giants, carrying various mechanical parts for repairs. Cheetahs from the valley also walked among them but they mostly stayed to Avalar.

Cynder tended to stick to the outskirts however, avoiding most of the chaos that is the city center. Her thoughts began to bounce from topic to topic, even delving as deep as her time under Malefor's control. She thought about the horrors of the war, on both sides. She thought about how Malefor broke her, how love was the only thing that kept her going. She thought how Spyro would've let her kill him after Malefor corrupted her again.

She remembered the dragon before Spyro saved her. Her only friend in the Dark Master's army and the only other dragon besides Malefor himself. His name eluded her, it stayed hidden deep within her own memory. Is he even still alive? She wondered, wishing she knew the answer. Spyro would've surely died if he was with me then. He was too young for the likes of him. She knew that if he was with her when she and Spyro faced off, then the purple dragon would've been killed.

Cynder eventually stopped at one of the gates along the walls, watching the wind push the grass across the fields. She continued to let her mind drift but the dragon from her past dominated her thoughts. What was his name and why did I love him?

* * *

On the other side of the field, along the treeline, a group of four dragons eyed the city with excitement.

"Finally." The light blue dragon sighed as he sat down on the hill they emerged from. His equally blue eyes rested on the comforting walls of the great dragon city. He stretched out his legs and unfurled with white wings, reflecting the sun back into the sky.

"For once I agree with him, we're here." Another red dragon stepped out from the treeline with the first smile he's since the beginning of the trip. His yellow eyes jerked behind him as a white dragoness bounded out of the trees and into the field below. "Someone's definitely excited to be here." He smiled as she began rolling around in the field's grass.

"Even the grass feels safer." She shouted as she tumbled down the hill, giggling until she reached the bottom.

"How does the grass feel safer?" The blue dragon began feeling the grass as if its new.

"I don't know, it just does!" She tackled the blue dragon, then rolling down the hill with him.

The red dragon looked around, noticing that someone was missing. He frantically peered back into the forest, only to see who he was looking for was sitting down just before the trees turned to grass. "You okay? You've been silent lately." He sat down next to his friend how looked up into the sky.

"Yeah, I just have a lot on my mind." He smiled at the red dragon, bringing his silver eyes to meet the red dragon's yellow gaze.

"Anything you wanna talk about?"

"Don't worry Ardere, I'm fine." He got up off the ground and broke the treeline. "C'mon, lets not slow down the other two." Ardere quickly joined him, and together they watched as the white dragoness and blue dragon begin to argue.

"Bets on Frost." He told the black dragon beside him.

"Did I miss when he actually beat Aurora?" He smiled at Ardere. These bouts usually happened whenever Frost managed to anger Aurora. As if on cue, Frost tackled the smaller white dragoness. Ardere gave him a sly look which quickly disappeared when Frost was pinned beneath Aurora. "I guess not." He returned the look to the now disgruntled Ardere.

"One of these days you'll have to learn Frost." She smiled down at the still struggling ice dragon. "I'm still a better fighter than you."

"Can you get off of me? I surrender." He sighed but she didn't move, only smiled.

"I believe those aren't the words you're supposed to say."

"Aurora," He groaned then looked up at the grand city. "Please, everyone's probably watching us."

She joined his gaze but only saw what looked to be a lone black dragoness watching them. "Already trying to impress the ladies are we?" She laughed as Frost tried to get out of her grip. "Besides the only ones that can here us are the two knuckleheads over there." Motioning to their friends further up the hill.

"But."

"No buts. Only confessions mister." She looked up at the two dragons watching them to see that Ardere was now yelling at the laughing black dragon. She giggled as she knew that his complaints probably fell on deaf ears. "Either one of them saves you or you tell me what I want to hear." She sat down on his chest.

"How are you so heavy?" He wheezed under her.

"Are you calling me fat?"

"NO. You're just heavy."

"Now you need to apologize otherwise he's going to come down here and beat you." Again motioning to the black dragon.

"You're going to let your brother be beaten by a trained assassin?" He questioned

"Maybe." She teased with another smile appearing. "Back to the business at hand."

"Fine." He sighed, casting a look at their companions, then to the dragon city before them. "Aurora is the greatest sister in the world, a far better fighter than me, and is the most beautiful dragoness the world has ever seen."

"Thank you." She got up and as Frost joined her, she pushed him down the hill. "That's for calling me fat." She yelled after him, trotting back to the other two. She nuzzled the black dragon before sitting next to him and resting her head on his shoulder. "Glad you could join us."

"Glad I could too." He smiled down at her.

"You'll be fine, worst case scenario, we'll sneak you in." Ardere offered a small laugh but it quickly dissipated.

"Do you think they'll pardon me? Even after those last three years?" The black dragon looked over the city he attempted to destroy last time. He remembered the battering ram, the siege towers, he remembered watching the Golem fall. He remembered everything, even the rage he felt when he saw Spyro and Cynder defending the ramparts. **_They ruined everything that day._**

"-lipse!" Aurora brought him out of the trance from the past, his talons had sank into the ground while his eyes could only see a deep shade of red. "Your okay, your okay." She whispered soothingly.

He noticed that Ardere was now embracing him with Aurora, their wings covered his back as if their were protecting him from the sky. These episodes weren't frequent, where he would begin to fall back into his old self. Usually, it would be whenever his past was brought up, other times it would just happen. Aurora always found a way to get him out of it, either by simply talking to him or embracing him. Ardere and Frost tried to help whenever she wasn't around but they would make it worse or end up with some kind of injury.

"I'm sorry." He let his gaze fall to the ground. He contained the past memories and hid them further in his mind. "This place brings back memories." He gave off a weak laugh trying to appease them.

"Get Frost and head into the city, we'll be right behind you." She told Ardere, which he followed solemnly.

"I'll be fine, go with them."

"Eclipse, I know you. I'm not leaving unless you're walking with me." She laid down beside him, retracting her wing. They sat at the top of the hill and watched Ardere and Frost approach the city together.

 _It's time to let go._

* * *

Cynder wondered if everything was okay with the two dragons on the hill but she stayed to greet the other dragons approaching. She was watching them so hard that she didn't even notice her purple friend land next to her.

"More refugees I presume?" He asked following her gaze to the two dragons below.

"I think so."

"I got you something." Changing the subject, Spyro reached into his bag and pulled out a silver, emerald necklace. "One of the cheetah merchants was selling some jewelry. I saw this and thought you would like it."

"It's beautiful Spyro, thank you." She looked over the necklace, noting how the gems glittered in the sunlight. "Do you mind?" Cynder turned around to allow access to the back of her neck. He undid the clasp to her old choker, letting it fall to the ground with a satisfying clank. Cynder wanted to take it off but she wrong without it on. Yet when Spyro put on the necklace, she couldn't feel that wrongness, the nakedness. She felt like she was completely free from Malefor. "Well, how do I look?"

"Stunning." The look in his eyes said more. It told her that he thought more of her, that she was more than just stunning to him. Say it again, tell him. She looked at his smile, remembering everything he's done for her. He deserves it but… what if I'm only a friend? She noticed how close they were to each other. Attempting to hide the ensuing blush, she turned back to the now full group of dragons on their way to the gate.

"They look young, where are their parents?" The absence of adults made her question how they made it to Warfang. They looked like her age and usually, they would still have some sort of parental protection.

"Died during the war perhaps." Cynder heard the grief in Spyro's voice.

"Still, how did they make it?"

"We did didn't we?"

"That's because your a purple dragon and I learned how to fight from my time under Malefor." This group of dragons began to peak her interest as possibilities raced through her head. Parents died on the way? Were they close by? Spies? That's when the black dragon's features were more easily seen. No… surely. She eyed him closer. The tail blade… the silver eyes… the colors… His shoulder, she needed to see his other shoulder.

"Cynder? Is everything okay?" Her body tensed, the black dragon turned around. The marks, it's him. Without another thought, she leapt off of the walls and soured down towards the dragon in question. It was the dragon from her thoughts, the one that dominated her past memories. She needed answers and she wanted them from him.

* * *

"You worry too much." Ardere responded to the growing concerns of Aurora.

"They'll have space, trust me." Eclipse agreed turning his whole body around to face her. "Besides, Mr. Snore more likely to get thrown out then you." He smiled while motioning to her brother.

"I don't snore!" Frost defended himself

"Do too." Ardere gave him a playful push. "We're lucky you didn't bring the whole dark army down on us." He snickered while moving out of his reach.

"Whatever." The blue dragon puffed.

"You'll be fine." Eclipse reassured her.

"So will you." She offered but he just snorted.

"You put too much trust in the ability to forgive."

"And you put yourself down too much."

Without warning, Eclipse was tackled by someone. He scrambled to get his attacker off of him, he could hear Ardere and Frost chasing them. Another dragon landed nearby, causing his mind to go into battle mode. He wiped his tail around, trying to either strike the attacker or the stab into the ground. He felt it slice into his attacker's leg, then the blade went to the ground. The attacker was flung off of him and he could see everyone.

"Cynder stop!" It was Spyro. _That must mean._

"Cynder?" His world came crashing around him. **_Kill her, she betrayed you._** _No, I could never hurt her._ **_You already did._** His eyes fell on the blood coming from the wound on her leg.

"Who are you?" She yelled at him.

"It's me. Don't you remember?" Her question made him ask his own. **_She forgot about you, abandoned you._**

"I remember you saving me from apes. I remember you staying with me. I remember everything but your name." Her response didn't help at all. _My name, she forgot my name. Why?_

"Cynder, it's me…" Their eyes finally met and he could see himself in the reflection. "Eclipse"


	2. Chapter 2

After the confrontation between Cynder and Eclipse, they entered the city. Eclipse followed Cynder to a nearby clinic for her leg, while Spyro took the rest of his group to see the guardians for housing assignment.

There was a heavy silence between the two dragons as they walked. It made Eclipse uncomfortable, having someone to talk to but not saying anything at all. He didn't know what to say, after all this time apart and the only thing there was ice. _How could she forget my name but I couldn't forget her's?_ The question circled his head whenever he looked at her. Everything was the same about her, besides the size obviously.

"I'm sorry for attacking you. I should've been more patient." Her apology broke the silence, he looked at the cut again. _It was pure reaction, I didn't know who it was. **Feeling sorry for the traitor? Weakling.**_

"Sorry for slicing your leg." He noticed her small limp, causing his heart to fall closer to his stomach. _**Strike now, end her treachery.** Get out._

"It was a warranted response." She gave a small laugh but it didn't work. Soon after the silence returned, freezing back over as if winter blew in. The city was larger on the inside than how it looked on the outside. It's residents gave Eclipse mixed looks as he passed them. Some looked curious as if trying to understand him, other's gaze him stares of disdain. They knew who he was and he could feel their hatred. That utter passion to see him dead, he joined them in this feeling.

The clinic was a small building, only one floor. It's waiting room doubled as its main function room. The floor, walls and even the roof were some sort of white tiles, if it wasn't for the furniture the room would be bland. Cushions of different colors lined the closest wall while low tables hung on the opposite one. Cabinets sat above the tables, holding either caches of red or green crystals. There were other doors that lead to other parts of the clinic, but they were staff only.

Cynder was already sitting on one of the tables, checking the wound herself before looking back at Eclipse. She looked like she was analyzing him, as if something was wrong with him. "You look good." She finally told him, turning away.

"So do you, got rid of the choker I see." She looked down at the necklace as if she didn't know it was even there. The emeralds highlighted her eyes perfectly, while the silver brought out the black in her scales. He wouldn't lie to himself, part of him wanted her back but that was his past self. Now, he didn't know what to call her. "It looks good on you."

"Spyro gave this to me not even an hour ago." A small smile appeared on her face, probably remembering the moment.

A mole wearing a white coat came from one of the staff doors and examined Cynder's leg. "You got lucky miss, any deeper and he would've cut an artery." The mole gave him a cold stare. Eclipse realized that her blood was still on his tailblade, he gave him a sheepish smile and starting looking for something to wipe it off. "Nothing a red crystal couldn't fix though." He snapped off a small red crystal from the cache above and let it absorb into her scales. The gem instantly started to close the wound. "Try to be careful next time, I've patched up you two too many times." He chuckled then walked back into the depths of the clinic.

"So…" He trailed off as they exited the building.

"Let's get your room then-" Terrador landed with a heavy thud in front of them, shortly followed by Volteer, Spyro and Aurora. The elder dragons practically radiated anger and from what Eclipse could tell, it was because of him. Cynder tried to stand in a protective stance in front of him but he stopped her.

"You need to come with us." Terrador's voice rubbled like an earthquake.

"What for?" Eclipse gave them a puzzled expression.

"We wish to ask you some questions, it won't take long." Volteer stepped forward, patting the far heavier dragon on the shoulder.

"Ask away." He stayed defiant, meeting the earth guardian's hard eyes.

"In private young one." With a silent nod Eclipse followed them into the sky and then into the guardian's council hall. He noted the blank pedestal that belonged to the fire guardian, remembering what happened him. They lead him to a smaller room that looked like a collective office. A cushion laid in the center of the room, between the four guardian desks. _**They're going to interrogate you.** Nothing can be as bad as fighting with you. **Harsh.**_

"We are going to ask you some simple questions. This won't affect you becoming a official resident of the city. Just please answer with full honesty." Volteer gave him an awkward smile then cleared his throat.

"What's to point of these questions?" He realized that his hostility was leaking into his voice.

"All we want to know is how you've been…" He shrugged at the green dragon in the next desk. "...reformed"

"I reserve the right to not answer a question."

"Of course." He cleared his throat again. "Is it true that part of you can be considered 'tainted'?"

 _ **No.**_ "Yes." His response earned him a raised eyebrow from Terrador.

"Is it true that you were in charge of some of Malefor's forces during your time as his general?" The questionnaire lasted for what seemed like hours. He continued to get mix responses from both the earth and electric guardians. He did decide to not answer a few and Terrador did express his concerns about some of his answers. _**You answer these too truthfully.** Last time I checked I don't need your permission. **Your giving them all of our secrets.** I'm giving them your secrets, I don't have any. **Liar.**_

"Do you have any knowledge on how someone or something broke you from his corruption?" Terrador eyed him closely as if he was expecting something of a emotional response from him.

"My best guess is that once Malefor was defeated, his spell broke. I was freed around the same time the world broke." He met the guardian's gaze for the 5th time today. He wondered why he looked at him like this so often. **_He knows..._ **_Nothing._

"Lastly, during your time as Malefor's general, did you have any control over your actions and/or your body." Terrador now looked smug. Eclipse twitched as if his neck snapped but instantly went back to place. His memories flashed before his eyes, replacing the real world with the past one.

"Umm." He felt his grip slipping, his vision was going red. I need to get out of here. "No answer." He got up quickly as he heard the darkness laugh from inside him somewhere.

"This is an impor-"

"Stop." It came out angrier then he wished but he didn't have time to apologize. Terrador used his magic to close the door in front of him.

"Answer the question." His voice growled like the ground was ready to split.

"Let me out." He didn't dare turn around to face them.

"No."

"Fine." Then he vanished into thin air, leaving only a puff of black smoke behind.

* * *

Cynder sat outside the guardian's hall, waiting for Eclipse to return. Aurora sat next to her, playing with a flower between her talons. Spyro was pacing back and forth in front of both of them, waiting impatiently as he always did. She smiled as the purple dragon had a frustrated expression written across his face.

"Calm down Spyro, nothing's going to happen to any of them. Besides you just met him." She smiled, attempting to calm him down.

"He almost killed you."

"Hardly." She tried to give him a sarcastic look but he was too busy focusing on the ground.

"Eclipse was just defending himself and he probably thought the rest of us we're in danger as well." Aurora offered but Spyro firmed rejected it.

"He's the reason you guys made it all the way here right?" She gave up on Spyro as he continued his route.

"Honestly, yes. Even Ardere and Frost would admit to it. He's been our protector, and he took it extremely seriously." Her smile told Cynder that she wanted to say more but she refrained from doing so.

"I can see that." She noted how it looked like Aurora was completely unharmed and from what she was so the other two, they were almost the same way. She admitted to only herself that it was impressive.

"He talked about you in his sleep." Spyro stopped pacing and looked at Aurora.

"Really?" She felt her heart skip a beat.

"From what I gathered, he sounded like he was protecting you from someone." The memory of a tall, black dragon standing over her. In front of them was a troop of apes with their weapons drawn. They looked like they were about to fight but the memory ended before anything happened.

Volteer burst out of the double doors with a frantic look, immediately searching everywhere in eyesight. He looked at Aurora for less then a second before she leapt into the sky. Cynder directly followed suit, not knowing what was happening.

Aurora was further away then she expected, making her bend the winds to push her forward. She followed her all over the city, struggling to keep up with her. Cynder was starting to catch the her when she dropped down towards an alleyway beneath them. She landed with a thud and everything came together.

Eclipse was at the very back of the alley, shaking uncontrollably. His eyes had turned a crimson red, his voice cracked with a darker sound, and dark energy was starting to crackle off of him like lightning to a lightning rod. Aurora was with him, crouching down in an attempt to get him to look at her. She was whispering to him, so soft that Cynder couldn't hear her until she was right behind her. His head snapped to look at her, his eyes narrowing as their settled on her.

" **Tra** it **or**." he growled, slowing rising from his lying position. She saw his muscles flex as he rose, the black scales shifted as they prepared for action.

"Eclipse, stop." Aurora stepped between them, shielding Cynder with her wings. He faltered for a second, his eyes flashing back to the silver color.

It was only a moment before the turned back. " **Mov** e." His tone was fighting itself, trying to decide from him and someone else.

"Not until you calm down."

" **I** A **M CA** LM." He edged closer, barely an inch from her face. His growl became deeper, more primal as he did so.

"Eclipse, please." Cynder didn't even see him move around Aurora, but he was now on top of her.

His tailblade whipped around and struck the ground where her head once was. She struggled to unbalance him, but the black dragon proved too heavy. His talons dug down into her forearm, resulting in a cry of agony. His tailblade came down again, much closer to her face then before. Fear started to take over, her efforts to escape doubled.

Aurora was there again, putting her paws on his chest. His entire demeanour shifted. He let Aurora guide him off of Cynder, but his gaze didn't leave her. The small punctures started oozing out blood and the pain in her legs seemed to triple when he let go. She flipped on her stomach and quickly studied her forearms. Three small holes on each forearm but they hurt as if they were double the size.

"Look at me." Aurora's voice was soft and soothing as she spoke to him. "Eclipse, look at me." She used her paws to guide his gaze onto her. His eyes softened when he finally did, slowly fading back to his normal silver. The dark energy dissipated with a few weak sparks and all his muscles relaxed.

"This city is like poison to me." He leaned into her, asking for support.

"We'll get through this, I promise. You just need time." She wrapped her wings around him, creating their own little bubble. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah." He sounded defeated. "Cynder are you okay?"

"I've been dealt worse." She reassured him.

"I should bring you to the clinic." He took a step towards her.

"No!" Both her and Aurora yelled in unison.

"I'll be fine on my own, just go with Aurora." She gaze him a pleading look, he only nodded in response. They brought him out of the alley to be greeted by familiar faces. Spyro, Volteer and Cyril were waiting for them. She eyed Volteer with angry curiosity, which he returned by looking away. "You and Terrador have some nerve."

"Cynder its-" Eclipse emerged from the alley being guided by Aurora.

"It's NOT okay." She cut him off before he could defend them, she didn't care. "You asked him questions that you KNEW would cause a reaction." Volteer took a step back from her.

"We didn't expect-"

"If it was anything like what you put me through then Terrador was trying for this." She gestured to Eclipse behind her. "Am I wrong?"

"Not enti-"

"It's a yes or no question Volteer." Cynder took back the space in a step, practically standing on top of him. She whipped around when she heard Eclipse growl, finding that Cyril had approached him.

"I'll take him there sir, just point me to where it is." Aurora locked eyes with Cynder for a moment but then help Eclipse into the sky.

"Yes, I sup-"

"I don't care that you asked me, I had three years to stabilize myself, but Eclipse had only five months. Even then, he's spent that time fighting off remnants of Malefor's forces, if you ask me that doesn't count." She managed to push the larger dragon back.

"Cynder, I think-" Spyro put a paw on her shoulder. She whirled around to face him and with a loud smack, she hit him. Volteer and Cyril took this as a chance to quickly rise into the sky and fly away. She watched them take off before looking back at Spyro.

"You're going to defend them when they caused him to breakdown?" She yelled

"Don't blame Volteer for what Terrador did." He yelled back.

"HE DIDN'T STOP HIM." With that she too flew off towards where Eclipse should be, she could feel him watch her as she did. _Terrador and his paranoia is going to get him killed. There's no telling what Eclipse could've done, especially in such a small amount of space._ She was too mad at Spyro to apologize for hitting him. _He deserved it, taking their side as if they're the victims here. I'll talk to him later but right now I need to find Eclipse. I need to make sure he's okay._


	3. Chapter 3

Eclipse collapsed in front of the central fireplace when they enter his room. His mind circling around itself, trying to establish who has control. The darker side of him was stubborn, he wouldn't give up to the light. He laid there looking at the empty space where the fire was maintained, he dared not move in case he hurt Aurora.

He could feel her watching him, waiting for him to say something. He felt like he could but when he opened his mouth, nothing came out. Fear gripped him as his memories of being trapped came back. He felt his breath become shallow and quick, followed shortly by the heavy thumping of his heart. He began to panic.

 _Stop._ _ **I was so close, you denied me killing her.**_ _She was not yours to kill._ _ **She wasn't part of the deal, only they were.**_ _I didn't think she was still alive._ _ **Yes you did, deep down inside you knew.**_ His darker side released his grip on him. Eclipse released a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"You're sweating." Aurora worried tone finally reached his ears. His breathing calmed, his pulse slowed, his panic faded.

"I'm sorry." He sat up, and felt the cushion beneath him was, in fact, damp with sweat.

"There's nothing to be sorry for. It's not your fault." She began opening the curtains, letting the fading light flood the room. "You need to quit beating yourself up. There's nothing you can do to stop it from happening. Besides, you're still here aren't you?"

"We just got here." He gave her a grin.

"They could've kicked you out on the spot." She didn't sound like she was in the joking mood. The sunset gleamed off her scales, making her shine more than usual. She smiled when she saw the adoring look on his face. "You're doing that thing again."

"What am I doing exactly?"

"Looking at me like that." She giggled

"For some odd reason," He started, getting up from his spot on the floor. She met him halfway in the center of the room. "You always seem to look stunning."

"I like to think that you always think that."

"Guilty as charged." He leaned into her, planting his lips against hers. He felt his worries wash away, as if everything was already okay. _You can't take this away from me._ _ **I may be your darker half but I don't wish to be lonely.**_ _We're actually agreeing on something aren't we?_ _ **For now.**_ She was the first to pull away, but the affection in her eyes told him that she didn't want to. "This place can be home."

"Yeah, it can be." She put her head on his shoulder again, while he wrapped his black wings around her. He looked out of the balcony expecting to see the darkening skyline but instead he found Spyro staring at them with a wide smile. He scowled at the purple dragon who only began to laugh. He let go of Aurora, bringing his full attention on his unexpected guest.

"Was I interrupting something important?" Spyro asked through his soft laughter.

 _ **Yes.**_ "No, is something wrong?" Eclipse could feel Aurora's blush on his scales as she tried to it.

"You haven't happened to see Cynder recently have you?" He rubbed behind his ears. "I kinda need to speak to her."

"I haven't seen her at all after we left." Eclipse's answer seemed to perplex Spyro.

"You haven't seen her either Aurora?" She simply shook her head, earning a laugh from both of the dragons. Aurora hit Eclipse with her tail with a groan.

"She's been here with me the whole time." He smiled at him as he stopped laughing.

"Okay, thanks anyway." He turned to return to the sky. "When you two lovebirds are down here, swing by the great hall for food. It's the tall building with a dragon statue on it."

"We'll keep that in mind." With that he was gone into the wind. He smiled down at the dragoness still trying to hide her face. "If I didn't know any better, I would say you are trying to light me on fire."

"Shut up!" She swatted at him again.

"Let's go get some food, I know you're hungry." He heard her stomach answer with a rumble. "Oh my."

"Stop it! Between the two of you today." She ran out of the room and into the sky.

"You know you love me." He called after her, shortly following.

* * *

Cynder sat there conversing with Ember and Flame, mostly about the new dragons that arrived today. Ember couldn't stop asking about Eclipse, she seemed to have fallen in love with his description. Flame just listened to the two dragoness' gossip, picking apart his rabbit.

The three of them turned to see the group of dragons in question enter the hall. Cynder waved the group down, noting that Ember was practically bouncing with excitement. Eclipse and Ardere broke off from the group, heading for the main food table. Frost and Aurora sat on both sides of Cynder with smiles on their faces.

"Here I thought my room was great but this is amazing." Frost looked all around the room, seemingly admiring it.

"This was the longest and largest building project ever done by the moles here, taking nearly two years with dragon help." Flame responded while watching Frost's expression with amusement.

"Look at you reading up on your history." Cynder remarked with a smile.

"This place is interesting once you start digging." He returned the small. Eclipse and Ardere returned with more food, taking their seats on the other side of the table. Ember instantly poking Eclipse, like she was making sure he was real. She noted both his and Aurora uncomfortable looks as she did so.

Ember mouthed her amazement to Cynder when she saw his muscles shift. She could barely contain her laughter. Eventually Eclipse forced Ardere switch seats with him but that didn't end the poor dragons torment. _Your so hopeless Ember._ Ember kept trying to pet him with her tail.

Eclipse was practically begging her for help as well but she didn't feel like interrupting the gawking dragoness. It wasn't until Eclipse literally hopped over the table into the seat next to Aurora did she finally stop.

"Do you know if Spyro will grace us with his presence?" Flame asked her, diverting her attention away from Ember.

"I don't know, maybe."

"Spyro was looking for you a little earlier, said he needed to talk to you." Aurora informed them.

"Looks like he found you." Cynder followed Frost's gaze to the Spyro walking towards them. He looked like he had something on his mind, something important but she ignored it and went back to eating. _Probably wants to talk about what happened with Volteer. I'll apologize afterwards._

He stepped behind her, inches from her ear. "I need to talk to you."

"I'm in the middle of something." She attempted to dismiss him but he only doubled his efforts.

"It's important, the guardians would be here if they weren't preoccupied." She looked at Eclipse, expecting him to say something. "We need him too."

"I'm not bringing him into the same room with Terrador, especially not within the same day." She tried pushing him away.

"This has nothing to do with that, there are bigger issues than the two of them." He sighed in defeat. "When you're ready, meet us in the guardian's war room." Spyro walked behind Eclipse, shortly after he got up and followed him out. _They haven't used the war room since the end of the war._ Everyone gave her a puzzled look. _Why would they need Eclipse, he just got here._ She recognized Aurora's look of worry. _I need to be there._ She got up and hurried out of the hall.

The sky was already filling with stars when she pushed the doors open. She saw the fading movements of two dragons flying towards the guardian's chamber. Cynder leapt into the sky, gaining speed as quickly as she could. She caught them as they landed, skidding to a halt beside Spyro.

"Glad you could make room for this." Eclipse snapped at her. She shuffled as she thought he was falling again but nothing happened. He seemed angry, focused on something going on in his head.

"What's happening?" She tried to find Spyro's gaze but to no avail. He stepped into the building, shortly followed by Eclipse. Cynder hesitated, asking herself if she should head back. _Do I even what to know?_ She stopped the door before it fully closed. _Yes_.

She followed them into the war room in silence. Neither of them spoke to her, only the sounds of steps filled the space. A map of the continent laid flat across the center table, while a larger map of the world hung on the wall behind it. Small figurines marked locations on the map. A group of cheetahs were placed in what looked like Avalar, moles were mainly situated around Warfang with a few around the city. The dragons were the most spread out, having symbols over the majority of the continent. Special dragons were painted to represent the three guardians, herself and Spyro. She noticed that there were no pawns representing the apes or the rest of Malefor's forces. _They don't know where the rest of them are._

"You're all here, good." Terrador's voice rumbled.

"Why are we here exactly?" She asked still looking at the map.

"Our scouts have reported that the Dark Master's army has disappeared. Like they've just erased themselves from the world."

"Isn't that good news?"

"No." Cyril stepped up. "Even after the Siege of Warfang, Malefor still had a sizable force. You all know this." Her male companions nodded in agreement. "An army this size shouldn't have been able to disappear like this."

"We think that there's a new leader and that they are preparing for an assault on the city." Terrador pointed on the map. "We figured that you three have the most experience out of everyone in the city.

"We're asking you to tell us who you think is in charge of the army and where they are hiding." Volteer paced back and forth along the back wall.

"Gual is dead, both of his top commanders have deserted, and Malefor was imprisoned by the ancestors." Spyro, looking down at the map.

"His fortress is in ruins, his allies left him after the event with Gual." Eclipse started circling the map. "There is a massive power vacuum in the remnants and who filled it is unknown to me."

"No one is left that would command that amount of respect and fear." Cynder looked between the two dragons, wondering what was going through their heads. _Could there be someone that we didn't notice? Someone who flew under the radar?_

"They're hiding in the mountains, that's where I would put them." Eclipse pointed at the mountains north of Warfang. _That's where we fought the Destroyer._

"But it's flooded, we flooded during our fight with the Destroyer." Volteer pointed out.

"There's an underground cave system in those Mountains, both Warfang and Malefor used it during the war. It was partially mapped out by myself, I thought there could be a way into Warfang from below." Eclipse countered, tracing one of his talons along the ridge. "If it really is someone from during the war then they would know of them."

"I can't think of anyone that would know of the tunnels that is still loyal to him." Cynder was searching through her memories as quickly as she could.

"Armavir." Eclipse was still staring at the mountain ridge as he stated the name. He looked like he was deep in thought, almost like he was thinking aloud. "Malefor spoke of another dragon who would replace Cynder. I never saw him in the field so I thought it was just a scare tactic."

"Another dragon to defeat. This just got more complicated than I had originally hoped for." Terrador looked around the table to the dragons surrounding it.

"If it is this 'Armavir' and neither of you know anything about him then we're in the dark." Cyril reinforced Cynder's own concerns. _He's unpredictable to us, a wild card._ She looked at Eclipse, half hoping that he knew something. _There has to be something in that head of his that knows Armavir._ He looked up at her, exchanging glances.

One of his iris' is that deep red from before. She wanted to grab him and drag him out of the room before he did something regrettable but it wasn't the same. In the alley, his entire eye was red like when Spyro showed his darker side. Right now, only his iris was different. _Is he controlling it? How?_ Questions began appearing in her head.

"One thing is sure about this. He's on his back feet, the army is still disorganized and since the fall of Malefor; demoralized." Eclipse brought his gaze back to the map. "We have time before he attempts anything of note."

"Why do you say this?"

"As bad as a tactician as he was, Malefor wasn't dumb. He would've taught him to make sure that any attack would be brutal with no margin of error. That's what he taught me." He explained.

"Obviously not very well." Terrador said to himself.

"Get over your petty hatred against me and focus on the bigger picture please." Eclipse corrected him. "The time frame is still too wide to give any exacts."

"If I remember anything about Malefor's tactics, it will just as Eclipse described. Brutal and he will overlook nothing. Especially if he knows that all six of us are here and that we know." Cynder looked away for Eclipse and back on the map. Her eyes were drawn to the mountain range where this threat could be. Shivers ran down her spine as she tried to imagine what Armavir might do.

"Thank you all for contributing. Myself and the other guardians must speak about this. We'll call upon you when we have need of you." The three younger dragons exited the room together, leaving the guardians to speak in private. Cynder noticed that Eclipse's eyes were now both silver and that he showed no sign of change. The three of them agreed to speak about this in the morning when they exited the building.

As Spyro took off, she stopped Eclipse and pulled him away from the door. She studied him for a long moment, wanting to make sure that he wasn't changing. _Were my eyes playing tricks on me, I could've sworn one of his eyes were red before._ His eyes were still their moonlight silver color, no color change whatsoever.

"You okay Cyn?" His nickname caused her to step back, confusion replacing the questions. Memories starting to assault her vision, replaying scenes of him being the caring dragon she knew he was. Even under Malefor's influence, he was kind to her, that shoulder she could shed her tears on. She hadn't even realized she was starting to cry. "What's wrong?"

He reached out, pulling her into his chest. She let him encase her in his protective embrace, his wings surrounding her. She remembered that feeling of being safe, she felt like he would protect her forever. She realized that she was jealous of Aurora, for having him as hers. She remembered what she saw earlier today, how much it broke her inside.

She wanted to stay here, under his cloak of darkness. A dark knight, ready to shield her from his creators. _I still love him._ Before now it was a question, now it was an answer. It was selfish to think that he would leave Aurora for her. She was the past he was trying to run from, that he was trying to overcome. _But right now he's mine._

 _I need to stop._ Part of her didn't want to pull away when she did, but she had to. "I'm sorry," She almost lost herself in his eyes. "you still bring back memories."

"It's okay, you do too." His response caught her off guard. _I do?_ Her brain was wrapped in thought when she realized her body was moving. She couldn't stop herself when she started kissing him, but he didn't resist either. It was short, but the message still got across. "I shouldn't have done that." He looked ashamed.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking." She too looked off to the side, cursing herself that she let it happen.

"I should go." He started to get up.

"Wait, I actually have something to ask you." She grabbed his arm.

"What is it?" He looked at her, when she let go.

"When we were in the war room, one of your eyes changed color. Was something setting you off?" The awkwardness still hung in the air.

"I was…" His voice fell. "...consulting? Referring? I don't know how to describe it." He scratched the back of his head. "My darker side is still very much a part of me. A little more than you saw unfortunately."

"What do you mean?" She circled in front of him, seeing that his eyes were different colors again.

"He's more of a separate entity than a different personality. He just happens to be in me." His nervous chuckle worried her. "We talk to each other, we often disagree on what to do and who to trust."

"What does he think of me?" She noticed the long pause.

"He's conflicted. Says he doesn't know what to think."

"What do you think?" Again, a long pause between her question and his answer. It was like he was searching himself.

"I don't know either." He reached out and placed a paw on her's. "Part of me wants this, to return to what we were. The other part thinks that I should move on. I don't know what's right, what's right for everyone. What hurts the least amount of people." He retracted his paw.

"You could never hurt me."

"I already did, twice." She knew what he meant. "I going to head to bed Cynder, I'll talk to you tomorrow." He lifted off into the sky and left her alone on the street. She didn't know what to do, nothing was solved. Only more questions, only more confusion.

* * *

Eclipse found Aurora sleeping by the fireplace in his room. He smiled at her steadily rising and falling chest, bringing his own mind to ease. She always had this peaceful aura around her, but knowing that nothing was worrying her made him happy. He laid down next to her, putting a wing over her. He looked at the unlit fireplace, wondering if he should light it.

The four of them always had a fire when they settled for the night. Even though he would always protest it, the fire brought him comfort. Those nights, under the stars with them were some of the happiest in his life.

That journey gave him a purpose he never thought he would have. To protect someone good. He would've drowned himself in that ocean if they weren't there. The fault of what he's done, all the fear he created, it almost killed him in the end. _I should be dead, broken and forgotten in a ditch._

He heard the sleeping dragoness happily sigh beneath him. He smiled at her sleeping form next to him. Many conflicting thoughts raced through his head and for once his other half was quiet.

 _You're just as confused as I am._ _ **We are still of the same mind.**_ _What should I do?_ _ **You're asking me for advice? Aren't we supposed to hate each other?**_ _I guess we should._ He went silent after that, but he didn't stay awake long enough to know if he had an answer for him.

He found himself inside a tunnel. Descending darkness faced him with only the light from behind him providing any kind of good sight. He heard the sounds of footsteps resonating from deeper within. Every part of him was saying to leave but something was pushing him forward or rather, pulling him.

As the light of safety faded behind him, so did the linear seeming tunnel. Forks in the path brought him in almost every way, up and down, left and right. He manage to see symbols in the sides of the tunnels, ranging from simple shapes to complex designs. The same force that was pulling him deeper into the ground made him go down the diamond paths.

Usually, he felt akin to the darkness but this, this darkness felt unnatural. As if someone made it. He felt free but trapped at the same time, his breaths were getting more and more shallow as he continued. He was running out of air.

Someone was watching him from the shadows, they whispered in his ears, moved around him. Everything was pointing to him not being alone but he couldn't see anyone nor anything. The orange glow of torches were a welcome sight, relief swelled inside him. It was a short feeling.

It was a lone pair of torches in a vast cavern. There was no telling how far it went, the far wall was cloaked in the same unnatural shadow. He grabbed one of the torches from its mount on the wall and waved it around, trying to see further.

The previously unlit torches on the side walls began to blaze to life. They vanquished the darkness, instead changing the chamber to have a faint purple hue. Even the torch in his had changed color. Finally, the torches brought light to his fears.

A large, adult dragon stared at him from the far wall. The dragon's black eyes were locked on him, showing nothing but an infinite void. Their scales were constantly shifting colors, not one color stayed in the same place for more than a second. The dark energy crackled off of their body like bolts of lightning.

Behind him were two steel cages, each had someone he cared for. Both Aurora and Cynder sat alone in these cages. They looked like they've been beaten, bruises and cuts covered their bodies. Dried blood hid patches of their scales, painting them dark red.

" **So glad you could join us.** " The dark dragon rumbled, a wicked smile slowly working across his face. His face looked of that of someone who was insane. " **It can't be a party without the guest of honor.** "

"Release them." Eclipse demanded, taking small steps towards them. "They have nothing to do with this."

" **Oh, do they now?** " He began to laugh. " **They're the reason you're here, are they not?** "

"I'm here for you." He pointed at the larger dragon. Eclipse was already formulating a way to kill him without Aurora or Cynder getting hurt. Eclipse was now halfway into the room, easily within striking distance for him.

" **I wouldn't move closer.** " His chuckling slowly ceased, replaced with a smile. Eclipse listen to him, stopping in the center of the room.

"Let them go." He growled.

" **I'll let them go.** " A switch suddenly appeared in front of the dragon. The maniac eyed him with insane, excited curiosity. He placed a paw on the top of the switch, teasing him with it. " **Only question is…** " Something began to manifest itself besides the dragon. Shadows began to shift and move, it was building something. _**Don't move.**_ It was two dragons, looking almost exactly like himself. _**It's only a dream, Eclipse.**_ _He's going to hurt them._ " **...who will you save…** " His limbs were darkening, he looked into the eyes of both Aurora and Cynder.

"Save Aurora!" Cynder yelled to him.

"Eclipse!" Aurora wasn't a fighter, the choice was obvious.

 _ **Don't engage!**_ _I have to save her._ He was already in motion, disappearing into a puff of smoke then shortly appearing in front of Aurora's cage. The imposters both converged on Cynder, easily overwhelming her.

"NO!" He was up on his feet, wings flared out, eyes scanning the entire room. _It was a dream, only a dream._ Aurora looked up at him with a concerned expression.

"Eclipse?" She sat up.

"I'm fine, just a bad dream." He reassured her. "Go back to sleep." She watched him for a moment before laying back down. He opened the door to the balcony, letting the fresh air fill his lungs. The sky was still filled with stars and the moons. _Only a bad dream._ _ **It wasn't a dream.**_ _Then what else could it be? It wasn't real._ _ **Eclipse…**_ He trailed off. _What do you know?_ _ **Eclipse, you have the power of foresight.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_Foresight?_ _ **Yes.**_ _Why haven't I been able to use it before?_ _ **You have, it just wasn't important.**_ _What else are you hiding from me?_ He went silent afterwards. _How does it work?_ Still no response. _I need to know._ _**Fear. Fear of losing them triggered this vision.**_ _Of course._

He didn't want anyone to die, but Aurora and Cynder were special to him. Losing them would break him. Aurora knew how to calm him down, to bring him back. Cynder was complicated, but he felt a deep connection with her. They were some of the few he could trust. The vision made sense to him, if Armavir had either of them or both, he would be able to control him. _**You can't protect them both.**_ _I can try._ _ **The future says otherwise.**_ _The future can be changed._ _ **It will only change if you force it too.**_

"Eclipse?" He turned to see Aurora in the doorway. She still had that look of concern on her face, even a hint of fear. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just admiring." He gave her a smile.

"You're lying." She sat next him.

"Why would I lie to you? Besides you already know everything about me." He gave up on the smiling. Instead he looked over the sleeping city.

"You're still protecting me and something tells me you won't stop." She forced him to look at her.

"You're so beautiful."

"Flattery isn't going to work this time." She was stern. "Eclipse, I'm not helpless."

"I never said you were, it's just." He broke away from her gaze, looking away. "You're not safe." _**Don't tell her, it throws everything down the wrong direction.**_

"What do you mean. We made it, we're the safest we can be."

"I can't explain it. Something inside me is screaming at me that you're not safe and if it's anything like before." His voice had a slight tremble, memories from the past resurfacing. "I don't want to risk losing you."

"Eclipse." She brought him to look at her again. "Nothing can hurt me when I have you." She brought him into an embrace, he hadn't even noticed that he was shaking. "I love you."

"I love you too." He returned the embrace.

"Let's go back to bed. You need at least some sleep for tomorrow." She giggled as she moved away. "I'm not leaving you out here." She grabbed his arm, dragging him back inside. They laid down in the same spot as before, Eclipse returning his wing over her. She sighed happily, shortly returning to sleep. _She's the key to everything._ _ **Only the key to you.**_ _What about Cynder?_ _ **We both know that you would tear the world apart if Armavir took her.**_ He was right. He wouldn't give up until he found Aurora where ever she was. He was confident in Cynder's abilities to defend herself, she also had Spyro. He gave her a quick kiss on the back of her head. _Armavir would destroy Ardere and Frost if they tried. I'm the only one she's got that can fight him._ _ **And that puts her in extreme danger.**_ He fell asleep, holding Aurora closer than he's ever done. 

Eclipse wook up the next morning without incident. Sun peaked in through the glass doors, momentarily blinding him. He groaned, carefully getting up as to not wake the dragoness next to him. Pushing the doors open, the sounds of the city flooded his ears.

Dragons inhabited the skies, flying in every which direction. Moles were running in between the legs of any dragons still on the ground, usually carrying some sort of building material. He even spotted a few cheetahs roaming the streets. Smells of food and nature mixed into his nose, he let out a soft delighted sigh.

He returned to his room where Aurora was still sleeping soundly. Aurora was always the last one to wake up during their journey. At first, Ardere and Frost would find 'interesting' ways to wake her. These ventures usually ended in a angry dragoness and maybe a few sore cheeks. All that would end after she and Eclipse would sleep with each other. They tried to do it again with the two of them but that only ended in heartbreak.

Eclipse lightly poked her nose, but she didn't move. He nuzzled under her chin, she only groaned at him. He gave her a small laugh before kissing her cheek. "You need to get up."

"But you missed." She giggled, keeping her eyes closed.

"Kissing sleeping beauties isn't in my job description." He smiled. "I can't have you sleeping in my room all day." She finally opened her eyes.

"It's actually our room."

"How about you go get your brother and Ardere for breakfast. I'll meet you there." He proposed, walking back onto the balcony.

"Where are you going?" She joined him on the balcony.

"I need to talk to Spyro and Cynder. I won't be long." He leapt off into the sky, passing over the streets below.

He met them back at the guardian's hall. There they spoke about what to do about Armavir. Spyro wanted to go into the mountains and look for the army but Eclipse disagreed, saying that he didn't know the tunnels. He then wanted to send Eclipse to look for them but he wouldn't, it was still too risky. Cynder was silent for most of it.

Eclipse saw her look up at him a few times but it wasn't for long. To him it looked like she was distracted by something, it didn't come up in the conversation. _**She's letting her emotions get in the way.**_ _Shut it._

Spyro continued to suggest different courses of action but Eclipse continued to disagree with him. Cynder did contribute a few plans, but they too were dropped. Ultimately it amounted to nothing with most ideas either being too risky or had a low chance of working. They agreed to wait for the guardians to come up with something. Spyro left the two of them and went to eat with everyone else.

Cynder shifted uneasily, putting her paws on top of one another. She didn't look up at him.

"You're worried about the coming days aren't you?" he asked but she shook her head.

"I'm confident that we can win. I just want to make sure that you make it through it, won't it be hard facing Armavir?" _**She's worried for us.**_ _She's worried about me._

"Everything will be fine." He flashed a smile. "With the three of us here, nothing can bring us down." She looked up and she too had a smile.

"I'll just feel bad when I have to save you idiots on the battlefield." She jumped away before he could grab her. "Race you to breakfast." She was already in the sky when she challenged him.

"Oh your on!" He quickly started chasing after her.

He felt his stomach curl painfully, almost bringing him out of the air. He saw a large building on fire, with dragons screaming from the inside. Another image of grublins rushing through the gates of Warfang. Shortly followed Spyro crashing into the bricks of the city streets. He shook his head and they went away. _What was that?_ _ **Get to Aurora and the others.**_

* * *

Eclipse shot past her, faster then she's seen anyone go. Chills ran down her spine when the possibilities ran through her mind. She sped up behind him, desperate to catch him. He knocked other flyers into a spins and caused others to scramble to get out of the way.

She apologized to as many as she could as she went by but she didn't wanna risk slowing down. She felt that he had a urgent reason to be forgoing the safety of everyone in his path. The wind started to bend around Eclipse, she hadn't even realized that they were this far from the great hall. Cynder slipped into the stream behind Eclipse as he continued to somehow climb in speed.

Their destination was in sight but Eclipse wasn't slowing. _Where is he going?_ He curved away from the hall, instead heading straight for a red dragon. He collided into the dragon at full speed, arms outstretched. They crashed through a two-story building, making crumble to the ground. He crushed the dragon into the ground, creating a crater as the street struggled to slow them.

"Fool." She heard the red dragon tell Eclipse before melting away into nothing. He didn't even wait, he was already running back to the hall. She was right behind him, trying to get his attention. He was about to throw open the door when both of the doors came hurtling off their hinges, taking him with them. She barely had time to throw herself out of the way.

Fire poured out the doors as dragons came rushing out. She rushed in and looked for anyone that needed help. She saw Spyro carrying Flame up the steps with Ember trailing close behind, trying to wake him up. Frost and a handful of other survivors were combating the flames. She rushed over to Ardere who was lifting rubble off of an adult dragon. He lifted the table the dragon was stuck under thus enabling Cynder to drag him out. Her heart fell when she couldn't find a pulse.

"Where's Aurora?" She yelled over the sound of the flames and frost breath.

"I don't know. I got here just before it went off." He responded then ran to the next trapped individual. Cynder helped a dragon with an injured leg out of the building, subconsciously looking for white scales. She handed the dragon off to another dragon and began looking for Eclipse. He was carrying two much younger dragons on his back when she spotted him. He leaned an extended wing down, letting their unconscious forms slip off him.

All she could find in him was dread.

"Aurora could be fine, don't worry." She tried to comfort him but he shrugged her off and went back inside. She looked around and saw all the devastation. Dragons, Moles and Cheetahs all either injured, unconscious or dead, littered the courtyard. Some of them were crying, others were watching in horror. People were trying their best to treat victims while medics were almost certainly on their way. Scorch marks ran like fingers along their bodies, some were even missing limbs

"We had a single day." Spyro came up next to her. "No mercy."

"He was here Spyro, or at least some part of him was. Eclipse caught him flying away."

"Where is he?" His voice had bits of anger mixed in.

"I don't know, he just kind of disappeared." She explained

"How?"

"As I said, I don't know. I just happened." She couldn't understand any of this. "He was aiming for this, there was no way he was targeting us specifically."

"Well, he picked a good time to do it. At least twenty dead." His anger was replaced by sadness. He left her, returning into the building. _Twenty._ She hoped that Aurora wasn't one of those fatalities, she hated the part of herself that wished she was.

She saw Eclipse carry out the limp body of Aurora with tears welling in his eyes. She ran after him, catching him as he let her down to be examined by a medic. Aurora had several second-degree burns with bruised bones all across her body. She also had severe head trauma. Eclipse picked her up and personally carried her back to the medical facility. Cynder later discovered that Flame had broken one wing and shredded the other. It would take him at least a year to heal fully.

The three of them were called down to the council chamber about an hour after the attack.

"THIRTY-EIGHT DEAD!" Terrador flung a desk out the door, instantly smashing it into pieces. "HOW CAN WE COUNTER WHEN WE DON'T KNOW WHERE HE EVEN IS!" He punched the wall, causing it to crack around the impact.

"You need to calm down!" Spyro fired back.

"I'LL CALM DOWN WHEN THAT DEMON CAN TELL ME A WAY TO OBLITERATE THE DRAGON THAT JUST KILLED THIRTY-EIGHT CITIZENS!"

"Hot heads won't get us through this." Eclipse's calmer voice reached them from the war room.

"HOW ARE YOU THIS RELAXED?" Terrador stormed across the chamber. Eclipse looked up at him, then shut the door with shadow magic.

"You can enter when your not destroying the other half of the city." Eclipse responded.

"THAT'S MY WAR ROOM!" He punched the door but it held firm

"We don't need you breaking it in a fit of anger." Cyril called from the other side. Terrador growled at them then returned to the office.

"Eclipse is right, you need to calm down." Cynder told him as he went back to where his desk used to be.

He took a deep breath. "Thirty-eight, Cynder. Thirty-eight of our friends are dead because we got this wrong." He throw his wings over his head. "He attacked us where he knew it would hurt."

"We're officially at war," Volteer announced solemnly. "and it's clear that we're already losing."

"Malefor never did anything like this." Spyro joined in the depressed tone of the room.

"We're not dealing with Malefor anymore my friend." Terrador corrected him, lowering his wings back to his sides.

"Eclipse will figure something out, he's still our best chance." Cynder told them.

"WELL, HE'S NOT DOING A GOOD JOB." Spyro's sudden burst of anger made her jump. "Sorry."

"It's fine." She knew it was only a half-hearted apology.

"She's right Spyro, he knows tactical warfare better than anyone here." Volteer picked his head up as he spoke. His eyes were red, he had been crying.

"We need to send a scout party into the caves, we need to know where he is." Spyro told them. They both nodded slowly.

"We'll get a small party together to go in." Terrador began looking through the scout roster.

"Eclipse should lead it, he knows them better than any of our scouts." Cynder looked at him as he said it. _He's trying to get rid of him._

"I don't see wh-" Volteer began.

"With all do respect, Eclipse is too important to send into there. We need him here to coordinate a defense. Those caves could also trigger a mental breakdown and we could lose him." She looked glared at Spyro. "He's already unstable with Aurora being in the state she's in." She defended him.

"She's right." Terrador agreed. "I won't send him in there. Even with his knowledge, too dangerous."

"It's okay Spyro, we'll assign our best scouts." Volteer reassured him. "Chief Prowlus might let us borrow a handful of his pathfinders as well."

Spyro gave her a disappointed look that confused her then walked out. He stomped across the chamber to the war room. Eclipse opened the door to reveal that him and Cyril were indeed planning a defense of the city. A large map of Warfang laid across the table with various dragon and mole tokens laid on top. She noticed that the guardian's token were located in the center of the city, away from the fighting. Mole token were also placed in the ruined parts of the city, where functional catapults could be. In fact, their forces were spread all across the city, both within the intact and ruined parts.

"Why are we all spread out like this?" Spyro asked upon entering.

"Armavir is extremely unpredictable, we have today as an example." Cyril explained. "Me and Eclipse have decided to spread our forces around the city in an attempt to initially hold them."

"We hope that any forces at the initial engagement point can hold them until reinforcements arrive. These reinforcements would be lead by the guardians in the center of the city, that way they can respond to anywhere quickly." Eclipse continued.

"What about us?" Cynder also noted the absence of Spyro and Cynder's own tokens.

"That's the tricky part. I was hoping that the two of you would accompany me in eliminating Armavir once the battle starts."

"I'm all for killing him..." Spyro eyed him. "but how would we know where he is?"

"He's not entirely unpredictable. Malefor wanted me to employ underhand tactics during the siege but I mostly ignored them." Eclipse gave her a look she didn't understand before returning to Spyro. "Armavir will be on the field, behind the army, either waiting for the army to breakthrough or for us to make an appearance. Once he makes his own presence known, we take him out."

"And the snake dies without its head."

"Exactly." He smiled at the purple dragon. "Then we can hopefully enjoy the peace you two fought so hard to get." Eclipse got down from the table, and exited the room.

"That's it?" Spyro questioned as he followed him.

"Yes. Once your scouts return we can hopefully organise a counter attack before he lays siege." Eclipse explained further. He let out a large sigh when he exited the council hall, looking into the sky. She followed his gaze to see that no dragons were flying. _Everyone's mourning._

"I'm going to return to my room, I need time to let everything soak in." He told them before leaving them on the ground. His voice was filled with grief and his flying was unsteady at best.

"Spyro, make sure he's okay. I'll stop by after I check on Aurora and Flame." Cynder saw the uncertainty in him. "Please?"

"Only for you. I'll see you later." Spyro shortly began following him. _Don't do anything rash Spyro. Please._ She lifted off into the barren sky and began her flight toward the clinic.


	5. Chapter 5

Eclipse closed the balcony door behind him, peering around the lifeless room. His eyes landed on the spot where they slept that past night. His heart dropped when he remembered what she looked like hours before. Snow white scales turned black by savage flames, her smooth voice that would release him from an enraged state went coarse by smoke, her blue eyes that were so full of life and emotion laid closed.

Tears began to form as the realization that he failed her settled in. _If I had been faster or if I went for her instead of him._ Doubt raced around his mind, forming a tornado of conflicting emotions. He understood some of them, but others began appearing from the blue.

Eclipse took a step forward, collapsing almost immediately. He stared into the empty fireplace, and with a single plume of black flame, he lit it. The fire changed color on impact, to its natural orange hue. It crackled and sparked, occasionally popping out an ember or two.

The warmth washed over his scales, washing parts of the sadness away. He watched it sway back and forth. He was captivated in it's grace, its elegant but jerky movements as it reached for life. He began to play with it, forming shapes with his element.

"Why are you here, purple dragon." His voice filled with sorrow and regret but he didn't care.

"We're worried about you." He could feel the lying tone in his voice.

"You lie." Eclipse began to smile. "You want something from me." He looked at his invader, slowly standing as he did so. "You want me to tell you something." He reached within Spyro's mind, pulling out everything he need to know.

"Why would I lie to you."

"You're here for another reason. Cynder's request was just your way to get here." He saw his thoughts as if it was his own. "You're here because you're curious." He cocked his head to the side. "You're angry… at me." His smile grew wider. "You're jealous of me."

"Why would I be angry or jealous of you. I have no reason to."

"Your words betray your thoughts, young Spyro." Spyro stepped back as Eclipse advanced. "You feel like I'm stealing Cynder from you." His tone was now wrapped in his own curiosity. "You feel like the guardians favor me over you." Eclipse looked deep into his eyes, searching his soul. "You don't trust me with her, you think I'll kill her."

"Whatever your doing stop." His demand fell on deaf ears.

"You think of me as competition. For both her and Warfang."

"Eclipse, stop."

"You think I'm better than you, that they love me more than they love you. My, my, you're one of the most insecure dragons I've met." His smile grew even larger. "You hate me, you want me dead."

"I want no such thing."

"Tell me Spyro…" He grabbed his face, angling it to look at him. "...do you know what it's like to die?"

"Eclipse, STOP." Her voice reached him instantly. He brought himself back to his seat within the blink of an eye. _What was that?_ _ **Something every dragon fears.**_ _Do you?_ _ **I fear it more than you can comprehend.**_ He stared back into the flames, trying to lose himself in them.

"I apologize, I don't know what happened to me." He casted a look back, they were both still there.

"I guess its good I changed my mind." Cynder sat down next to him, joining him in watching the flame.

"Spyro, what do you want to know?" He knew he had a question to ask him. One that has been eating at him since Eclipse got here.

"When you first arrived, none of you had any scars or injuries. It looked like the dark forces let you go but Aurora hinted to us that it was the opposite. How did you do it?" Spyro's curoristy became fully apartment.

"You want to know how I did it?" Eclipse gave a small laugh. Spyro sat besides Cynder, still watching him. "How I did it?" He repeated in a quieter tone. "Hope you have nothing better to do today because if I'm going to tell you anything, you need to know everything."

 _5 months ago…_

* * *

He felt the world break below him but he continued his rampage. Cutting down anything that was still breathing, drinking up the fear like water. He was the Father of Darkness, but he needed something to get his mind off of the defeat at Warfang. The sanctuary had been on his wish list for months but he had never found the time for it.

There was only three dragons left when the world was put back together. His red vision began to drain, colors began to revitalize themselves. Everything began to grow around him as he felt himself shrink. The thirst for violence and fear slowly disappeared. The dark energy around him gradually faded, leaving nothing but himself.

Dozens of dragons laid in pools of crimson blood around him. His claws and lower arms were drenched in their liquid life, he felt like vomiting. Fires raged within the ruined buildings, the ground below was cracked and frozen, pools of acid bubbled and dissolved flesh and bone. The smell of fresh death dominated his nose.

The last three dragons were huddled against one of the few remaining walls standing. They looked like they were his age. Two of them stood in front of the third in a protective way, but they were visabley trembling. He stared at them, wondering how much they witnessed before they were trapped against the wall.

His mind chased itself as he tried to piece together what he had done. How couldn't remember anything, it was all in a blind rage. He found himself trying to dig memories out of hiding, they didn't listen to him. He took a step towards the group.

"S-Stay back." The blue one yelled and he listened, taking his step back. His voice held the same fear that showed on his body. Part of him laughed but it was silenced before it came out of his mouth.

He didn't know what to say to them, he knew nothing could make up for what he's done. Everything was destroyed, everyone they knew here was dead, and he was the reason. He presented himself with two options, one involved his own death. That sick part of himself told him to kill them and find the Dark Master. He ignored him.

"Listen, I…" His words fell out of his mouth, his own anxiety taking over. "...I don't know how to make up for this."

"By killing yourself." The red one's confidence slipped through, showing his true emotions. That option kept presenting itself, pressing him more and more to take it. Ending himself sounded like the best option.

"What if I brought you to Warfang?" His words went out faster than his thoughts.

"We will go nowhere with you!" The red continued. "Not after this."

"I give you my word-"

"Your word means nothing to us!" The red one was right, his word would mean nothing to them. It became more and more apparent that option one was the only option. He looked into the grey sky, he hadn't noticed it was raining. This was the best time to do it.

He spread his silver wings, letting the sky's tears pelt them with anger. Lightning flashed overhead, blinding him with white light. Thunder boomed somewhere above them, he took it was his signal to leave. He could feel his reluctance to do it, but it was ultimately the best decision. There was nothing left for him in this realm.

"Wait!" The white one's voice reached him before he could run. He looked down and met her eyes. The blue spheres captivated him, his wings retracted without him telling them too. She slowly approached him, leaving the protective shield that was the other two dragons.

"Aurora! Get away from him!" Her name was Aurora but all he saw was her eyes. His mind flickered another set of emerald eyes before him. Something told him to not get too attached but he couldn't help it.

"You want to bring us to Warfang, how do we know you're not tricking us?" She stopped in between the two parties, just out of reach of both of them. She stood confident in the face of what was death itself.

"I don't want to hurt any of you, I already did too much." Grief began to leak into his voice, breaking the his already fragile mask.

"Do you know how to get there?" She took another step forward.

"Yes, I do." He remembered everything before the raid, he could get them there.

"Would you protect us?" Her question made his mind fight itself. The darker side of him wanted to kill them now, the other wanted to dedicate himself to them. He knew which side to agree with.

"Until I die." His voice broke, the grief still weighing it down. "I would protect you until I die or you see no further use of me." His darker side screamed at him, it wanted nothing to do with this empathy. He didn't care what it wanted.

A silence hung over them. She looked back at her pseudo-defenders, they shook their heads. The darker tried to push him in the sky but his new found honor held him still. Forming a cage in his mind, he locked the darker part inside and dissolved the key.

"I'm going with him." The words sent his mind into another loop. She would follow him to Warfang. He questioned what could possibly be the reason for her deciding to go with him.

"No your not!" The blue one stepped forward, as if to challenge him.

"You can't tell me what to do. I'm going with him to Warfang and I suggest you come with us." She continued to surprise him with her defense.

"We can get there on our own, without the help of a dragon that's committed mass murder!" His brother in arms stood next to him. He felt the tension between her and the other two.

"You heard him as clearly as I did, he made a vow."

"Aurora! HE'S LYING!" Anger broke through the uneasiness, projecting his voice further then he probably wanted to. "You can't trust him!"

"You're right," His heart sank. "But this has nothing to do with trust." She turned away from them, looking at Eclipse again. "I just want to see if anything is left then we can leave."

"Aurora!" The blue one yelled.

"What do you want me to say Frost? There's nothing left! Nothing!" She closed the distance then shoved him back. "We need to leave and he's offering us a way out."

"He will kill you." Frost sneered at him behind her. She followed his gaze back to him. They locked eyes for a moment, those blue eyes searching him for the lie they spoke of. The emerald eyes flashed in his mind again but he pushed them out, focusing on her.

"No, he won't" His heart stopped. She did put some trust in him but didn't want to tell them. Something passed between them that he didn't understand. She looked back at the other two. "He won't harm me."

They looked between themselves. Frost let out a large sigh then looked back at Aurora. "I'm not leaving you with him." He walked away from them and deeper into the ruined sanctuary.

"Is this really the best thing to do?" The red dragon asked.

"It's better than staying here." She looked over her shoulder, nodded to Eclipse, then walked away.

The red dragon moved toward him, anger and determination swerling in his eyes. He shoved him back hard, almost making Eclipse fall over. He jumped up instantly, his instincts telling him to fight. The red dragon put his face just a talon away from Eclipse's. He fought to keep his talons in the ground instead of putting them in the dragon's face.

"If you hurt any of them, even look at them the wrong way, I will end you." He shoved him again. "I don't care who you are and what you can do to me. I will do everything I can to kill you."

"Not the best way to approach a dragon who slaughtered your friends isn't it?" Eclipse didn't have time to tell himself to not say it.

"My only friends are still breathing." He finally back off and joined the other two in the village.

They were off within the next hour, Aurora now with a small sachel that he guessed were family mementos. The storm would follow them for weeks, occasionally showering them with rain and blinding them with lightning. They would fly for as long as it would let them, before forcing them to travel on foot.

He learned that the red dragon's name was Ardere and that he was fiercely protective of Aurora and Frost. Him and Ardere butted heads often, even the littlest things would set them off. However Aurora and Frost would split them up before it got serious. They tried to stay away from each other as much as they could but only so much could be done. He also learned that Aurora and Frost were siblings which slowly made itself apparent as they tended to stay close to each other. They would bicker but they resolved it themselves unlike him and Ardere.

The last day the storm grounded them was when they were first attacked. The lightning flashes were their only sources of light under the dark canopy. The rain was heavier than usual, it drowned out the sounds of their footsteps. The thunder sounded like it was right above them the entire time.

Eclipse was walking closer to Ardere then he had up to that point. Frost and Aurora were in front of them, conversing with themselves. He saw shapes running on the trees during the brief flashes on light. He dismissed them for his paranoia acting up.

Something dropped down on Ardere's back and stabbed a sharp object into his shoulder. He roared in pain, whirling his head around and flinging it off of him. Eclipse pulled the dagger out of Ardere and threw it at his assailant. The dagger went through it's chest, making it go limp.

Small shapes began dropping around them, trapping them in the center of the circle. uch larger ones began appearing from behind trees and he knew what was happening. This was an ambush and from what he could tell, it was from a full war party of grublins.

"How many are them are there?" Aurora's voice suggested she was scared. He heard Ardere begin to growl besides him and saw his muzzle encased with fire. Frost was already radiating cold air, turning the rain around him into small ice crystals. Eclipse's mind was analyzing every threat he could, planning the fastest way to eliminate them. Time stood still as they stared at the war party around them. He felt his darker self rattling at the mental cage he was trapped in.

Time resumed as Ardere released a torrent of fire, burning any grublin not fast enough to get out of the way. Eclipse launched himself forward, digging his talons into his unlucky target. He sliced the heads of two of them as they attempted to stab him. He spun around and tackled one aiming an arrow at Frost's back. The grublin fired the arrow into Eclipse's underbelly but it didn't stop him from stabbing it's throat. He ducked under the large battleaxe of another large grublin before bringing himself above his head and snapping its neck. Using the momentum of it's fall, he jumped onto another bowmen. The bow still went off, firing it's arrow just behind Aurora's head. He looked up and saw two shield-bearers slowly advancing on her, their shields blocking her blasts of wind.

He raced across the small battlefield, feeling an arrow lodge itself somewhere along his side. He shoved his entire weight into the closest shield-bearer, causing it to collide into the second. Pain rushed through his stomach as the shield-bearer kneed him in this stomach, pushing the arrow deeper into him. The shield-bearer flung him away with his shield but he brought himself back in a mere second. He rolled between the legs of one and jumped onto the other. He stabbed its head before back-flipping onto the other behind him. The shield-bearer tried to shake him off to no avail, his tail blade finding itself lodged in the back of its neck.

He ripped off its head and flung it at the last bowman, making it fall over. He rushed over to it but as common with this battle, it released it's arrow. The arrow found its mark in Eclipse's right shoulder. The jolt of pain broke his balance, causing him to slip onto his side, further burying it into him. He saw Ardere light the bowman ablaze with another blast of fire, ending it.

The battle was over and everyone was still alive. He groaned as he got up off the ground, blood trickling down his leg. Eclipse stumbled away from the group as they looked over each other. He felt Ardere's eyes watch him go. He fell down well out of eyesight and studied himself. Three arrows have found their mark in him, two of them barely missing vital organs and his body ached from throwing himself onto the shield-bearer.

He focused on himself, shutting out everything around him. He pictured the punctures in his mind and called upon his element. He felt the darkness begin to pull out the arrows and heal the flesh behind them. Pain tried to cloud his mind as the arrows resisted him but he kept pulling on them. The arrow in his underbelly finally fell out, leaving only the hole to be patched.

"Eclipse?" He heard Aurora's voice call for him. He looked around for her white scales in a panic, stopping his healing as he did. She stepped out of the bushes with a curious look in her eyes. "Why did you run off?" She sat on his side and peered at the arrow still stuck there.

"I thought I saw some of them take off this way. I didn't want them to bring reinforcements." He flinched as she reached out towards him. Normally, he wouldn't have let anyone touch him, especially any injury but he let her paw land on him. It felt foreign to him, someone else touching him like this. Only one other dragon has but she was gone.

"You shouldn't have chased after them with these still in here." She ran her paw down from the arrow in his side.

"I'm fine, I already got one of them out." He showed her the arrow that fell out of his underbelly. "And I sort of stumbled after them." His sheepish laugh didn't do anything to the tension.

"Brace yourself."

"Wait, wh-" She yanked the arrow out of him. He roared in pain and his tail blade instinctively tried to stab her but something stopped it. It was an inch away from her nose, yet she didn't flinch.

"As I told them, you won't hurt me." He lowered his blade away from her nose, setting it back on the ground. She opened her satchel, revealing a mix of different herbs. He watched as she pulled out a handful of green leaves and began to chew it.

"What is that?" He eyed the putty closely when she spit it out.

"It reduces the chance of scarring and helps stop bleeding." She placed it inside the punctured. He winced as it stung. "Quit it."

"Sorry, just unexpected." He apologized as she moved to the arrow in his shoulder. His scales finched again when she began to feel around the arrow. "You don't have to do this. I can deal with this."

"I'm going to help you Eclipse, besides I brought these herbs for a reason." She looked of at him and their eyes met again. They looked into each other for a short amount of time before she broke away from his gaze. A small blush forming on her face. "Ready?"

"Aurora, wait." He used his other arm to pull her head off the arrow. "I need to show you something."

"It can wait after I pull this out." She grabbed it again.

"Just wait." He closed his eyes, returned to concentrating and focused only on the wound in his shoulder. He felt the darkness began to painfully pull on the arrow. It began to stitch the ripped muscles back together like a natural suture. His body tried to break his concentration again, shooting pain into his head. He heard her gasp as the arrow fell out and the hole mended itself together.

"How did you do that?" She ran her talons over where the arrow once protruded out of him. She marveled at the sight, it was as if it was never there.

"It's not like there were doctors in the dark army, wounds and scars were worn like a badge of pride."

"What about blood loss."

"Then you died a coward."

"How is bleeding to death a sign of cowardice?" Concern dominated her voice as she kept feeling the area where the wound was.

"Because you didn't die in battle, you died because you were weak." He found her eyes looking at him again. "And if you were weak? You were killed."

"That's horrible."

"We were the dark army for a reason Aurora. So I had to learn how to care for my wounds, this was the solution." He explained while looking into her eyes yet again. They were filled with hidden emotions, ones that she didn't want to show.

"Can others do it? Like Cynder?"

"No, as far as I know, I'm the only one that can do this." He put a paw on top of one of her's. "Don't tell them yet. I'll tell them at some point."

"Okay." She turned away from him, quickly walking back in the direction she came. "We need to get back to them." He nodded then followed her. Ardere watched him closely when he returned. He felt an unusual uneasiness when he looked back at him. Both of them had the plant putty over their wounds, Ardere had the most of the two.

They waited for the storm to dissipate before they continued. The next three months were eventful. Weekly grublin attacks resulted in Eclipse revealing his healing power to Ardere and Frost with mixed results. Frost didn't mind, saying that it just saved them the medical supplies. Ardere didn't speak to him for weeks.

He also began to have nightmares, usually centered around his past. Sometimes he would be forced to watch Cynder be killed or kill her himself. Other times he relived one of his raids on a dragon sanctuary with heart breaking realism. He made a deal with the demon in his head, he would be allowed out of his cage if he swore never to harm any of the three. He reluctantly agreed.

The voice told him that Cynder deserved to die because of her betrayal of the Dark Master. He mostly ignored those pieces of conversation. They worked well together, he was a second set of eyes for Eclipse. His moves became more efficient and his skills with his element improved. However he proved unreliable when he need him the most.

One night him and Ardere were on watch as the other two slept. It was a clear night, no clouds in the sky at all. The forest was also quiet, that was the first red flag. Eclipse had been scanning the woods the entire night but nothing revealed itself. He was on edge, he knew the woods weren't supposed to be this peaceful.

"Ardere! DOWN!" He whirled around with the warning. A dragon that seemed to be made of the night dropped out of nowhere and smacked Ardere into a tree. Frost and Aurora were up in an instant. Pure terror filled him when Frost was picked up and thrown into Ardere as he stood up. Neither of them moved from their place on the ground.

"Aurora, behind me!" She quickly did so, her entire body trembling as she did so. He called to his other half for help but he didn't respond. He resisted the urge to grab Aurora and run, he needed to save Ardere and Frost.

" **My, my, you are a perceptive one.** " The dragon taunted. " **I should've known.** "

"Why are you doing this? We've done nothing wrong." Aurora questioned behind him.

" **Thats where you're wrong my dear. You both wronged me.** " Eclipse began calculating ways to defeat the mysterious dragon

"What is she talking about?"

"I don't know." He whispered back. "Who are you?"

" **You've forgotten me Eclipse? How rude.** " She stepped into full view, the firelight reflected off her black scales. Her red chest snaked up into the face he thought was gone. The blood in his veins froze, somehow the Terror of the Skies was back and she was trying to kill them. " **I thought you loved me.** "

"How are you still here? Malefor is dead!" Aurora had backed up into a tree, there was nowhere to go. Moving anywhere except back would be almost suicidal.

" **He may be gone but I will always live on as long as he's alive.** " She motioned to Eclipse. " **That's besides the point. I'm here for revenge.** "

"We've done nothing!" Aurora continued.

" **Oh, sweetie.** " She looked at her with a flash of hatred. " **You caused everything.** " Eclipse launched forward but she caught him mid air. " **I'll deal with you soon, my love.** " She flung him sideways.

"Eclipse!" Aurora screamed as she watched him fly to the ground.

" **You do care for him.** " The Terror laughed. " **Too bad it won't amount to anything.** " She pinned Aurora against the tree, raising her up by her neck. Aurora was gasping for air, trying everything she could to be released. " **To think he would choose you over me.** " She ran her long tail blade on her cheek, picking up Aurora's fresh tears.

"I-I…" She struggled to speak.

Eclipse picked himself up and flung himself into the Terror's side. She went wheeling sideways, dropping Aurora in the process. Eclipse crouched down, quickly making sure everything was okay. He glared at the Terror, getting up as he did.

" **You shouldn't have done that.** " His growl took an evil tone he didn't know he still had. " **You shouldn't have done that to her.** " He forced his darker side back, it wasn't the time to lose control.

" **What will you do about it?** " She smiled at him. " **Are you really going to die for someone who won't die for you?** "

"She doesn't need to die for me." He lowered himself, ready for the impeding fight.

" **Then come oh great Father of Darkness, show me how far your willing to go for love.** " He launched himself at her again, barely dodging a spray of poison. He grappled onto her neck, stabbing his talons through the red scales. She went into a roll forcing him off. Her tail blade sliced across his forehead. Blood began to drip down into his eyes but he fought to keep them open.

He ducked under the swipe of her talons, dragging his own blade along the front of her wrist. She screeched at him, producing shockwaves of sound pushing him back. It sent him to the ground then she was on top of him. He disappeared just as her blade came down where his head was. He reappeared above her, letting gravity carrying him down as he raked streaks of blood down the back of her neck.

She rolled again, this time crushing him with all her weight. He felt his bones begin to crack while under her. He dove away when she was off him, going into another roll. He heard the familiar sound of her spitting poison, it was too late. It splashed unto the center of his right shoulder, sending immense pain through him as it ate at his scales. He forced out the pain as he disappeared again, this time reappearing in front of her face. He grabbed her muzzle and forced it to the ground. Her muzzle made a crunch sound as they landed with him on top. She flung him off in a roar of pain, blood now running out of her nose.

He was back on her, trying to keep her from recovering. He slashed his talons across her chest then jumped up and slashed his blade upwards. Landing in a back flip, he rushed her with his head using the force to create distance. The Terror shot another burst of poison at him yet he ducked out of the way. She grabbed him, digging her sharp talons his sides. He stabbed her paw with his blade, making her drop him. She smacked him while he still in mid air, sending him into a tree. The tree cracked under the force and began to fall down toward Eclipse. He had to fling himself out of the way, forcing himself to roll as he did.

He struggled to get up, his right shoulder already becoming useless. He looked into the Terror's hate filled eyes, and found the will to get up. She pounced on him, trapping him under her weight. She dug her claws into him, sending even more pain through his entire body. His body threatened to go into shock but he wouldn't let it. He stabbed his blade into her exposed under belly. She reared up and roared in pain, allowing him to disappear. He brought himself back above her, landing on her back.

He tackled the back of her neck, bringing her to the ground. He stabbed the back of her neck repeatedly, sending spurts of her blood all over his face. He jumped up and landed again on her muzzle with another crunch. She whirled around underneath him, whacking him with her tail and sent him into another tree. He looked up while he stood and saw her blade coming toward him but it was too late. She stabbed him through the center of the chest. He couldn't feel it, even when he looked at it.

"NO!" Aurora scream cut through the air like a knife. The Terror stabbed him again, and again, and again. Aurora's sobs filled the air as he was stabbed ten more times. The Terror held a smug and delighted expression with every thrust of her blade. She held the last thrust in him, watching him as he slowly bled out on her blade.

He looked at her with his own smile, making her cock her head. He only made one swift movement. He sliced the end of her tail off, pulled it out of him and stabbed her with it. She fell down, landing eye level with him. He spun around, blade angled toward her, and slit her throat. The Terror reached up and covered the cut but it didn't help. Blood was spurting onto the ground below and she collapsed in a crimson puddle. He slowly turned to look at Aurora who still had tears in her eyes.

"I'm okay." He tried to take a step forward but he collapsed instead.

She ran over to him with her satchel of medical herbs. She didn't even take the time to chew on them, she just started shoving them in his gaping chest wound. "No, no, no, Eclipse…" She grabbed onto his head and made him look at her. "...Eclipse, stay here, please don't leave, please." He was fighting to keep his eyes open, he wanted to see her. Ardere and Frost began to stir, running over to them once they realized what was happening.

"C'mon Eclipse, don't give up yet." Frost began putting to pressure on the chest wound, in an attempt to save him.

Ardere only looked at the ground.

"Ardere help me out here!" Frost yelled at him.

"What is there to do! He's dying!"

"Help me save him!"

"How?"

"I DON'T KNOW JUST DO SOMETHING!" The two began yelling at each other. He didn't care anymore, he kept looking into her beautiful blue eyes.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." He gave her a weak smile. She gave a weaker laugh but still continued to cry.

"You can't leave, we haven't made it yet." She told him. "I order you not to leave."

"You can't tell me what to do Aurora." He reached up and touched her cheek. She grabbed onto his paw and held it there. "Don't cry over me, only smile."

"I can't"

"Yes you can." His voice was growing weaker, he felt his life begin to slip away. "I love you."

"Don't tell me that yet. Tell me tomorrow when I can say it back." She held onto his paw tighter.

"I don't think I can, it would be awkward if you said no." He smiled at her again but she didn't laugh back.

"I love you too." His eyes finally won, ending his vision of her. All he felt a mixture of grief and happiness in his final moments. Slowly, everything around him faded and he was presented with nothing but the cold, dark expanse of death.


	6. Chapter 6

It was cold, all he could feel was the cold. He was surrounded by utter darkness but it was as he could see everything. It was just black, void of any color. He knew where he was, on the knife's edge of death and life. In limbo, it was the source of his power. He had visited this place many times before but never when he actually belonged here.

Suddenly, a box of light appeared in front of him. Curiously, he looked further in. He soon realized that it was a memory.

It was a image of Cynder during her time as the Terror of the Skies, but it was that time in between missions. The few times they could let their love hang out, show their affection without scrutiny. Other boxes of light began to appear and began to slowly move past him. This was his life and it was going by.

This wasn't his life though, it was the life of his darker side. Those fifteen years weren't filled with the memories he wanted. They were filled with the cruel enjoyment of someone else, someone that loved death. Young, old, male, female, it didn't matter to him. Hundreds of dragons faces were looking at him as they went by, all of them were already dead.

" **Not all of them.** " He knew who it was. " **There is still those three.** " The frames passed on his companions. Ardere, Frost and Aurora. " **You saved them.** "

"Not the best time to be praising me." He let out a sadden sigh. "I failed them anyway."

" **Did I miss something or are you drowning yourself in fake guilt?** "

"I'm dead, nothing I can do anymore." He swiped at the memories, making them continue down the endless path. "Why do you care anyway? You want to kill them."

" **I may be the dark side but I still have a heart.** "

"An empty one at that." Eclipse scoffed at him. His darker side grabbed the stream of memories and flung them backwards. He stopped it on the original image of Cynder.

" **I loved her once then she betrayed me. I was hurting, all I wanted to do was lash out.** " He explained. " **You can call me whatever you want, but I am not heartless.** "

"She's most likely dead by now just like Spyro." He grabbed the memories and allowed them to restart. He sighed and began walking the opposite way.

" **That would be for the best.** " He sighed in a dampened tone.

"Now you two can be reunited in the afterlife." He stopped at the memory of Aurora looking up at him. "I'll be alone." A tear dropped off his face and landed soundlessly on the ground.

" **I'm sorry.** " He put his paw on Eclipse's shoulder.

"What is there to be sorry for? I wasn't as good as I thought I was." More tears began to pool on the ground.

" **I caused all of this.** "

"What?" He stopped the tears, casting a look over his shoulder at him.

" **I used all my energy to summon her. I caused her to attack your camp. I didn't think she would have that much success. I didn't think she would be filled with my jealousy.** " His explanation rocked Eclipse to his core. " **I didn't want her to kill you.** "

Eclipse shoved him away, his anger turning into uncontrollable fury. "You did this?" He stalked closer to him. "How could you betray me like this?" He grabbed him, pulling him closer to him. "We made a deal." He pushed him away again, this time he feel to the soundless ground.

" **You think I meant for this?** " He gestured around him.

"You wanted this! You wanted me dead." Eclipse pounced on him, pinning him where he landed. "I can't begin to describe what I want to do to you."

" **I know a way out.** "

"I do too but I'm dead! Dead!" He shook him violently.

" **Don't you want to see her again?** "

"Of course I do but I will not let you trick me again." He punched him, then brought his blade above his eye. "I will make you suffer."

" **Hear me out.** " He pleaded. " **No tricks I swear.** "

"Your word means nothing to me." He stared down at him, all his rage building up inside him. Fury sparked in his eyes and with a scream of pure, animalistic rage, he brought down his blade.

He missed.

It landed next to his head, barely touching him. He got off of him, scream again and punched the closest memory. He then realized that it was the one of Aurora from before. It shattered like glass, falling to the ground. He fell to the ground besides the shards, letting his tears return. "What am I doing?"

" **Your angry, enraged. You know how I felt after the siege.** " He was now standing over him, a saddened look on his face.

"Great, I become more like my monster the more I stay here."

" **Are you ready?** " The memories collided together, building something before his eyes. Together they formed a pitch black doorway. He stood up and peered into the infinite abyss, wisps of death reached out for him. He smiled knowing that he's had this fate since the very beginning. He looked back at his mirror image, but he only looked away.

"This is really it huh?" He fiddled with one of the wisps, twisting it between his talons. "The answer to one of the greatest questions asked."

" **There's another way.** " The black door moved away, bringing the wisps with it.

"What is this other way?"

" **You have to make a deal first.** " He fully turned to face him.

"With who? You?" He scoffed at him again.

" **Yes.** " He only took on a serious expression.

"I learned what happens when I make deals with you." He began walking back to the black door.

" **You can see Aurora again.** " He stopped in his tracks

"You really are desperate aren't you."

" **Walk through that door and I go with you. I want to live as much as you.** "

"What's this deal?" He sighed, facing him again.

" **You have to promise me one thing. Whenever you face an enemy you can't beat, you let me take over.** "

"I do that and you will lock me away."

" **No I won't, you'll retain control whenever the battle is done.** " He looked sincere.

"Someone's out there you want to kill, isn't there?" He raised an eyebrow.

" **If there was someone to kill, I would've killed them by now.** "

"You seemed to have missed Spyro then." Eclipse gave him a witty smile.

" **I don't want to disappear Eclipse. I don't but if I bring us back then we're in danger of something far worse than dying again.** " He put a paw on his shoulder again. " **There are somethings that even the darkness fears.** "

"What is it?" He asked wondering what could be worse than death. He didn't know that his darker side could acknowledge fear and that definitely scared him. He wanted to know what he fears worse than death, something told him that he didn't want to know

" **If you listen to me then you won't have to know**." He held out his paw for him to shake.

"How do I know you'll keep your end of the bargain?" He looked into the crimson eyes of his counterpart, searching for any sign of misdirection.

" **I have no reason to betray you.** " He let out a impatient sigh. " **Eclipse, I won't betray you again. I have nothing to betray you for.** "

He reached out and took his paw, sealing their deal in limbo. He watched his eyes but they were empty of any emotion. There was nothing there that told him that he was lying or that he truthful. The black door came back, the wisps slowly retracting into the void. The door shrank into the ground before rising up again with a blinding white light.

" **You'll be in a lot of pain when you go back. Being stabbed that many times isn't exactly pleasant.** "

"It'll be worth it." His smile returned though this time it represented his joy.

" **Make it count.** "

He cast another look back at his counterpart but he was gone. "Thank you." He stepped through the door of light.

* * *

All he felt was indescribable pain all over his body. He wanted to scream in agony as the darkness only made it worse. Every movement it made inside him shoot immense pain into his skull, it was difficult to keep himself from moving. It was the only thing he wanted to do, his body wanted to reach into the wound and pull out whatever was in there. He was second guessing his decision to come back.

He felt every stitch the darkness made, piecing him back together like a plush doll. His flesh was being woven back together at an excruciatingly slow rate. He thought he was dying all over again with how bad his entire body felt. He felt the darkness swallowing the poison on his shoulder, making it evaporate like water. There was a slight feeling of relief before it was overtaken by the feeling of the darkness rebuilding the melted scales. He felt like vomiting out the pain but he firmly resisted it.

Seconds felt like minutes and minutes felt like hours, it was the worst thing he's ever felt.

Finally the darkness faded, the pain following seconds afterwards. He slowly opened his eyes and saw the living world again. He couldn't see Aurora anywhere, instead only Frost and Ardere around the fire. They were speaking in hushed voices, he wanted to yell to them but he refrained. He had been dead for almost an hour.

He looked at where the chest wound used to be, only to see a large scar had formed in its place. His counterpart told him that it was the best he could do but Eclipse didn't care. He was alive, and he needed to find Aurora.

He searched for the feeling in his legs, trying to move his talons as he did so. He felt his front talons move the grass around them, shortly followed by his back legs. He found the will to try to stand but his legs continued to defy him. He heard his blade rustle the grass somewhere out of sight which was shortly followed by his back legs beginning to move. He rose his back end off the ground, sliding his front half into a tree. Finally, his front legs pushed the rest of him off the ground. He was back among the living.

"By the ancestors…" Frost's voice reached him as he looked around. Both their eyes were wide in shock, Ardere's mouth literally hanging open. "...how is it even possible?"

He slowly approached the two. His legs began to wobble but Ardere caught him before he fell. He looked at him in surprise, Ardere was actually helping him. The red dragon nodded at him before setting him down in front of them.

"You died, I watched you as you died." Frost's voice was suspended in disbelief, he looked like he's seen a ghost.

"I did die." Eclipse assured him, still not quite sure how to speak to them. He felt like a ghost, like he was both here and not here. He felt both the unnatural chill of death but the same warmth of being alive. He felt the pain of being put back together and he still had intelligent thought. "Then I came back."

"What was it like?" Ardere finally spoke but continued to stare into the fire.

"It was cold and dark. I saw my life move past me, all fifteen years of it." He explained, getting closer to the fire. "I wasn't the only one there."

"What do you mean?" Ardere finally met his eyes.

"My darker half, the one you know as 'The Father of Darkness', was there." He explained, the cold slowly faded from his bones. "We talked and he told me everything."

"What do you mean by 'everything'?" Frost asked.

"He told me that he invented that dragoness that attacked us. Said he didn't mean for her to kill me." He poked the fire with a stick, sparks flew up into the black sky.

"Is he still in there? In you?" Ardere's anger slipped into his words, Eclipse shared his feelings.

"Yes but we have came to a mutual agreement."

"Does it involve me lighting him on fire and watching him burn?" A small plume of flame fell out of his mouth.

"Unfortunately, no and all you need to know is that he won't try anything like that again." He picked himself up, steadying himself with his renewed legs. "Where's Aurora?"

The two exchanged glances, before Ardere looked back into the fire and Frost to him. "She ran off after staying with your body. She was breaking down and we know better than to try and comfort her after something like this." He gestured to his pool of blood behind them. The Terror's body was noticeably missing, along with any actually sign of it's death. The only thing left to catalogue their fight was his pool of blood and the cracks in the trees. "She likes to grieve in peace."

"I need to find her." He looked around for any hint of her white scales.

"Be careful with her. I don't know how she might take it." Frost walked over to him and pulled him into an embrace. Eclipse let himself be wrapped in the blue dragon's wings, it wasn't the right time to complain about being touched. Besides, he liked being able to feel more than pain. "Thank you."

Frost released him and he shot off into the forest. The sounds of the camp slowly faded as he expanded his search for the dragoness. He searched behind every tree, every rock and in every tree top. He listened for the slightest sign of her presence but it was like she vanished. He tried calling out for her but she either didn't hear him or didn't think it was real.

He was well away from the campsite until he found signs of her presence. Talon marks were slashed through a tree, followed by several more. He followed the trail of violent grief, it lead him to a small clearing. The treetops formed an open sky that revealed the star sprinkled sky. She laid down in the grass, surrounded by a plethora of different colored flowers.

He held his urge to run to her, to grab her and throw her into the air. His happiness threatened to boil out into the open. He emotionally prepared himself, different versions of this conversation played out in his mind. He had no idea how she would react to his resurrection. He took a deep breath, released it, then slowly proceeded into the field. His mind was spinning a mile a minute, his heart was going every second.

"Aurora?" He softly called out.

"Get out of my head." She replied, shielding herself with her wings. "Please."

"Aurora, it's me." He called again but she only hid her face further. He heard her low sobs, breaking his heart as he did. He sat down in front of her, peering down at her shaking form. "Look at me."

"I don't want to, I don't want to see it again." Her crying had broken up her words, her front legs held her wings over her face.

"Don't cry over me, just smile." He reached out and put his paw on top of her's.

"I won't, I won't smile until you come back." She sniffled.

"I miss your smiles." He leaned down to where her face would be, looking for any sort of entry.

"I miss you."

He removed her front legs from her wings, then slowly pushed past them into her protective bubble. Her cheeks were still damp with tears and her eyes continued to produce them. Her sobs were barely audible and her body shook with every breath.

"Open your eyes for me. Let me see them." She hesitated at first, pressing them shut even harder. Then her eyelids softened, and slowly revealed the eyes that captured him in the first place. They shot open in surprise once she saw him. Surprise filled those blue spheres as they stared at him. She shot up, breaking her wing's dome, and stared at him in disbelief. She looked over his whole body, as if she wanted to make sure everything was there.

"H-H-How?" She took steps away from him, he could see that she didn't believe in his existence. "Y-Y-You can't be real." He matched her steps, slowly approaching her. Her body had stopped shaking and her tears have stopped. Her teeth gritted and her eyes closed, she was remembering everything before. She sat down but kept her eyes on him as he got closer. He reached her and she put her paw on his chest, slowly feeling out the scar. "It's impossible, I watched-" He closed the distance between their muzzles, silencing her worries with his lips. Pulling her closer to him with his wings, he kept her there but she didn't try to pull away. She was kissing him back. For the first time since his release, he felt complete.

He slowly pulled away from the kiss and rested his forehead on her's. "And I would do it again."

"Please tell me you're here to stay."

"I can't stay here, I have to bring to Warfang remember." He smiled as she let out a small laugh.

"Don't you leave me like that again."

"Yes ma'am."

"I thought I couldn't order you around?" She laughed again.

"Dying changes you like that." She playfully hit his chest. "Too soon?" he laughed

"Definitely."

"I won't leave you." He promised, staring into her eyes.

"Good, because I need you with me." She back at him, worry filling her eyes.

"Do you love me?"

"I think that question is invalid." He looked at her.

"Say it."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

They stayed like this until they were interrupted by Ardere and Frost. The two dragons had apparently been watching since Eclipse first walked out of the trees. Aurora was blushing the entire way back while Eclipse only tugged her close to him. She batted Frost away when he began making jokes about it but Eclipse knew it was in good fun.

They wouldn't actually begin sleeping next to each other until a month later when Eclipse would have a nightmare about the Terror. After that his nightmares stopped, instead he would sleep peacefully. Of course Aurora turned bright red when she woke up and found his wing over her but she didn't complain. Frost and Ardere also attempted to scare her awake, but he quickly put a stop to it with a innocent but threatening growl.

Eclipse had earned Ardere's respect for what he did for Aurora that night. He also apologized for how he acted towards him initially, saying that he was only acting out of fear and hatred. Frost had appreciated what he did, eventually the both of them would become his friends.

The next few weeks leading up to their arrival at Warfang saw a gradual drop in grublin attacks. With the last one happening three weeks before the end of their journey. None of them ever came close to ending one of their lives as the Terror did. He was constantly reminded about that night with his scar but Aurora was there to help him through it.

In many ways the journey with them saved Eclipse. He would've killed himself if Aurora didn't step up to go with him. He would've lost himself if the three of them didn't let him in. He didn't have a purpose until he fell in love with Aurora and became friends with Ardere and Frost. It revitalized Eclipse for the new age of peace and he would go through it again if he had to.


	7. Chapter 7

_Present…_

"I gave everything I had to her." Eclipse's eyes never left the fire during his telling. Cynder and Spyro listen to the whole thing, not interrupting him once. "I still owe her though."

"You don't owe Aurora anything." Eclipse glared at Spyro, immediately silencing him.

"If it was not for Aurora I would've killed myself. I would've carried myself as a demon instead of an actual person." He smirked. "In many ways, she saved me more times than I saved her."

"The whole thing about your darker side bringing you back was real?" Cynder's voice matched her expression of disbelief.

"Why would I lie?" His smirk went away. "I have no reason to."

"Was that him that attacked me in the alley then?"

"I didn't want to hurt you but when I saw you behind Aurora…" The fire shifted into the face of the Terror of the Skies. "... everything came rushing back."

"Is there anyway to get rid of him?" Spyro asked, swatting the fire back into its natural form.

"His power drains everyday, without Malefor to feed him dark energy and the absence of killing dragons, he will eventually fade." He turned his face, showing different colored eyes. "Until then, we'll share the same body."

"That's strange." Spyro marveled at his eyes before Eclipse changed it back to silver. "Can you still use it?"

"Yes, whenever I let him do that I can still see out of both eyes. He more of just watches what I'm seeing, like a second pair of eyes." The red color then started bouncing between the iris' like a ball. Spyro watched in amazement while Cynder began to giggle.

"He seems a little excited?" She managed to say between giggles.

"What is he doing?" He asked, cocking his head a little. She tried to mimic what was happening with her eyes but she could only move them side to side. He sighed and they stopped almost immediately afterwards. "Sorry, he did that the day after I came back. Ardere and Frost were convinced that I had been possessed or something."

Cynder saw the sky turning black behind them, stars were already beginning to appear. She still had to visit the clinic to check on Aurora and Flame but she also didn't want to leave Spyro alone with Eclipse. Not after what happened when she got here. Spyro seemed to have read her mind as he got up and walked out to the balcony.

"I'm going to check in on the clinic, make sure everyone is okay. I'll make sure to check in on Aurora." He leapt off, catching the wind with his wings and soared off in the direction of the clinic.

"Cynder?" He was closer to her now, holding her paw in his. Blood rushed to her cheeks, betraying her commands. "I've been thinking about you." An embarrassed smile spread across her face.

"Have you?" Her body betrayed her again, placing her other paw on top of his.

"Yes I have and…" His eyes were filled with too many different emotions at once. _What is he doing?_ "...I love you..." Her heart both skipped a beat and dropped into her stomach. _What about Aurora? I could never live up to her._ "...but not the way you want me to."

"W-What do you mean?" She didn't mean to stammer her words.

"I'm not the same Eclipse that fell in love with you. Truth is Cynder, we've both changed since then." He patted the top of her paw. "We're better now and in those three years I spent searching for you," He looked into her eyes. ",I forgot why I loved you like a lover." Her world shattered at his words. She knew what he meant, she was holding on to a pipe dream. There was nothing to reignite between them, their spark had died. "The night I died, I realized that I wasn't thinking of you after I left that sanctuary."

"What about last night, outside the council hall?" Her eyes starting pooling tears.

"I was confused. We both were." He motioned to his head. "I won't lie to you, I meant what I said. There was a part of me that wanted you back but the more I thought about it, the more it didn't make sense."

"I-I-I don't know what to say." She was caught off guard when he pulled her into him. "I don't know what to do."

"I'm sorry that I let the spark die. I'm sorry I can't look at you how I use to." He paused for a brief moment. "I'm sorry I can't love you like Spyro can."

"I don't want him. I don't want his love, not while your here." She tucked her head into his shoulder, letting her tears out as she did so. "I still love you."

They didn't say anything for awhile. Eclipse's eyes traveled between her and the fire in front of them. Cynder kept her head tucked into his shoulder, not wanting to show him how much it really did hurt her. _I lost him._ He kept his wing over her, something that she wanted to be hers and hers alone. She knew it was selfish to want him like this. She wished Aurora wasn't real, that she just disappeared from his life. Evil thoughts circled in her head but she knew better than to act upon them.

"You wouldn't be safe with me." He laid his head on top of hers. "Right now I'm barely holding him back. I couldn't bare to see what he would do to you if he caught us off guard."

"W-We could make it work." She was desperate.

"No we can't. At least, not when I'm like this." She saw his talons twitch. "I'm too dangerous for you."

"But your not for Aurora." His whole body flinched.

"Not anymore. It's been agreed upon that the three of them aren't to be harmed by him." He explained, stacking his paw on hers again.

"Do you want me dead?"

"Never."

"Then why didn't you extend your protection over me?"

"Cyn-"

"Did you ever love me like her?"

"Cynder I-"

"Was I just a trophy?"

"I thought you were dead!" She slid out of his hold, turning to look at him. "I knew you were with Spyro when he defeated Malefor but I didn't know if either of you survived. The dark part of me wanted you dead and I didn't think I needed to care." He put his head to the ground. "I wanted to believe you were alive somewhere, living a happy life with him."

"I couldn't-"

"I know you have feelings for him and I know he has feelings for you." He frowned at her. "I love you Cynder, but not like her and certainly not like how he loves you."

She didn't want to continue the conversation. She ran out and jumped into the night, catching the wind under her. He called after her but she didn't turn back. She didn't land, just let herself crash into her room.

Everything about them came rushing back, every moment they spent with each other. Tears came in full force as she paced back and forth. _Why can't I stop? Why do I feel this way when it should've been over three years ago? Does she have something that I don't? How is she better than me, I saved the world all she did was be afraid. I knew Eclipse for twelve years and she only knew him for five months. I loved him longer than she ever did, I gave up more for him._ Her heart ached. She was both angry and depressed, she felt like everything was crumbling around her. She didn't know what to do anymore.

Her legs were tired, collapsing beneath the weight of untamed emotions. Everything came out, all tears that weren't used, all the pain that no one saw, and all the emotions that she had hidden. Her eyes found the fireplace, its emptiness making her breakdown more. She closed her eyes, trying to take away the tears but exhaustion took her instead.

* * *

She woke up with the feeling of someone's wing over her back and pressed against her side. She didn't look to see who it was, instead just laid there and enjoyed the warmth of their body heat. She felt her face, realizing that she had cried in her sleep. Her eyes feel dry and her cheeks still felt damp. Her smile fell when she saw that it was Spyro instead of Eclipse.

"When did you come in here?" She poked his nose, he groggily opened his eyes.

"You were crying in your sleep so I decided to help." He stood up, stretching his body as he did so. "I didn't want to wake you."

"It's okay, you were just unexpected." She joined him off the ground.

"Let's get something to eat." He went out into the balcony.

"Where are they serving food?"

"They fixed everything in the great hall, turns out that most of the damage was contained to the insides. Nothing that couldn't be fixed quickly."

"Then lead the way." They jumped off Cynder's second story balcony and proceeded to the great hall. Spyro was right, the front of the building looked like nothing happened. All the scorch marks were removed and the doors have been reinstalled. All the blood stains in the courtyard have also been washed away.

Inside was worse but still functional. The back wall was lined with the debris from the explosion. Some of the pillars still had the black marks or cracks in them but they seemed to steady. New tables and seats replaced the old ones, for the most part it seemed like everything was back to normal. Their friends were even sitting in the same spots as before.

She smiled when she saw Ember waving them down with the Ardere and Frost. Spyro left her to get the food while she sat down at the table. They looked happy considering what happened the day before.

"How are you doing Cynder?" Ember asked with her normal excited eyes. "I know that I'm doing just fine." Frost almost choked on his food when he laughed.

"Little bit of an understatement." He coughed, Ardere nodded before going back to eating.

"It's not my fault I like to look on the bright side of things." She glared at Frost in a very menacing way. The three of them looked between themselves before laughing at her. "What? Did I say something?"

"No, no. Just…" Cynder snickered at the two boys, "...never change Ember, never change."

"Hmph." Spyro came back just as they stopped laughing. "Spyro, they're making fun of me." He only smiled at her.

"It's all in good fun Ember." He sat down next to her, pushing food over to the other dragoness. The five of them continued to talk while they ate. The topic of conversation kept bouncing around, mostly just harmless things. Spyro kept looking up at her, usually with some big goofy smile. Which only resulted with her calling him an idiot before laughing. _Eclipse is right, he does have feelings for me and for the most part I share them. I just need to accept that Eclipse is happy with Aurora first._

"Have either of you seen Eclipse today?" Her question seemed to make everyone's mood drop. She grew worried.

"Eclipse has been at the clinic since last night, with Aurora." Frost answered, his eyes stuck on the table.

"She's still unconscious, but the doctor says she's already getting better." Ardere looked over at Spyro before switching to her. "He's been there since you left his room."

"He slept there?"

"The doctors tried to get him out but he's intimidating when he wants to be." He scratched the side of his neck with a nervous smile. "We would've tried to help but he's stubborn when it comes to Aurora."

"Flame's been released and he's been moved to ground level, at least until he heals." Ember's paw suddenly was on top of hers. "The two of them will be fine don't worry about that. Spyro pulled some strings with the guardians and they're receiving some of the best medical care in the city."

She turned to Spyro. "It was the least I could do."

"Why don't they use crystals on them? Wouldn't it be faster?" Cynder looked to them for an answer.

"Aurora's body has never taken well to crystal healing, they also don't want to jeopardize her becoming too dependent on them." Frost answered, poking his last chunk of meat. "She's honestly in a bad place."

"Same with Flame, the amount of red crystals he would need to repair his wings brings a high chance of addiction." Ember agreed.

"Sorry I killed the mood guys." She apologized. Ice had frozen over the conversation, the question obviously being a sour topic. The mood was slowly revived when Spyro began making jokes about how many times Frost poked his food. Cynder wasn't really paying attention though, she was too worried about Eclipse. She left as soon as she finished her food, ignoring Spyro's pleas to stay with them.

She chose not to fly, there was too much on her mind. _Eclipse slept with her. To care for someone that much…_ Something was keeping her from moving on, she couldn't pin down what. Whenever she thought of Spyro, Eclipse always invaded her thoughts like they were one in the same to her. She remembered what he told her last night, how it still made her ache. She wanted to find a way to make him love her again, but she couldn't.

No matter how much she wanted it, she couldn't bring herself to split them apart. _They're committed to each other, Eclipse even laid down his life for her. What do I have against that? I don't know what I would've done if Spyro died while we were chasing Malefor._ She fought against the tide of Eclipse thoughts, focusing on Spyro.

She felt safe with him, like she did with Eclipse. They faced Malefor together, and he never gave up on her. _He said he had nothing left to fight for when Malefor turned me. Did he mean it like he loved me or was it because we were friends?_ She felt foolish for thinking the purple dragon meant friendship by that gesture. She knew that she had feelings for him and it was obvious to see that he too had these feelings. _He would do anything for me._ She reached up and touched the necklace he'd given her. _I would do anything for him… right?_

She poked her head through the door of the clinic. Eclipse was still sleeping next to Aurora on the floor. His legs twitched every so often, extending his talons with furiosity. _He does have nightmares about fighting._ She looked at her own paws. _Can I stop them like she can?_

She slowly walked over to them, careful not to wake either of them. Aurora's burns had been healed but the splatters of purple bruises still remained. She slept perfectly still, even her soft snoring seemed perfectly harmless. Cynder couldn't help but smile.

She crouched down, slowly placing her paw on top of Eclipse's. His legs continued violently twitch, his teeth came up into a snarl. Then he stopped. His legs gave one final twitch then relaxed, his lip fell back down and hid his teeth. She did it, she stopped his nightmares. Pride filled her to the brim, followed by pure joy.

Then Aurora began to groan and slowly started to shift her limbs. She flipped towards them. She was waking up, and Eclipse would miss it. Cynder started shaking him but he didn't show signs of waking like his counterpart.

"Eclipse you need to get up." She whispered, trying not to wake Aurora up faster. She shook him with more force, practically pushing him across the floor. "Since when did you become such a heavy sleeper?"

"He's always been like that, I couldn't understand it either." She froze when Aurora spoke, slowly turning to her. "Don't worry Cynder, I've been awake since last night. They're just keeping me here until the bruises heal and when my head trauma clears up." She smiled. "You know how he is."

"I certainly do." They both giggled as he continued to sleep.

"Are you okay?" She dropped her smile, instead taking on a worried expression.

"I'm fine, nothing to worry about." Cynder showed her own smile.

"He told me about last night and about the council chamber."

"He did?" She frowned.

"Yeah. He said that I should talk to you when I'm better but you're here now so I figured we should get it out of the way." Her voice still sounded dazed.

"I just wanted him back, I'm sorry I put you two in that position." She apologized, petting the top of his head. "He treated me like I meant something, the only one that did."

"I wouldn't want to let go of that either." Her smile returned. "He's a special one."

"He really is."

"Was he like this in the army?" Cynder's own smile returned with her question.

"He hated leaving me alone when we first got together, he feared that the apes would kill me at the time." She recalled when he beat down a squad of apes that were terrorizing her. "He gave me his rations when we were still being trained. He would go weeks on end without eating just so he knew I wasn't hungry." She remembered one of those occasions. Gual had taken away her rations after she failed a mission, then Eclipse showed up and gave her his. _He told me he had already eaten._ "He only interacted in three different ways. To me, he was loyal to a fault and he would die for me if need be."

"I know about that." Her voice took on a more depressed tone.

"If he saw you proved yourself to him, he respected you. He's only done this once, and that was when I told him about Spyro." She remembered that conversation, it was the first time he was actually intrigued in someone else. "If he thought someone was a threat or a risk to my well being? They weren't allowed to go near me without his knowledge." _He only broke that rule once, when he had to leave me at Convexity._

"He's that simple?"

She giggled, "He really is now that I think about it."

"Do you want him back?" She'd been asking herself that question since Eclipse arrived in Warfang. _Do I?_ She studied him, tracing the outline of the mark on the top of his head. _Would he even be happy with me?_

"He loves you more Aurora. I can't do that to either of you. I just want him to be happy." The words hung in her head a moment but she didn't want to take them back. _It's time to move on._ "Keep him. I have the goofball we call a saviour to look after." They both laughed.

"I told you she would say no." Aurora stated, confusing Cynder. Eclipse picked his head up, smiling at her. _He was awake the whole time?_

"I guess I was wrong." He wrapped his wings around her. "Thank you Cyn." She started laughing beneath him. "Should I go back to calling you Cynder?"

"Only you get to call me Cyn." She laughed as he released her.

"Okay."

"How come I don't get a cute nickname?" Aurora's protest made her laugh more.

"Your name is hard to make a nickname for." He smiled at her.

"What about Rora? That sounds fine to me."

"Why would I call you Rora? You can't even roar." Their smiles grew larger.

"I can roar! Watch this." She sounded like a baby lion.

"So scary." His mockery earned him another smack and a disgruntled dragoness. "Love you."

"Love you too." She mumbled before flipping back over with a, "Hmph."

She stayed with them a bit longer before leaving to find Spyro. She was proud of herself for finally giving up on getting him back. She settled on loving him as a brother, though it would take some getting used to. She smiled at the thought of having this talk with Spyro. _This is long overdue anyway._


	8. Chapter 8

He smiled as Cynder left them. _Now she can live her life._ _ **You have to win the war first.**_ _You really don't like it when I think something happy do you?_ _ **I'm keeping you grounded.**_ _Is there a way I can turn you off?_ _ **You said it yourself, I'm fading everyday.**_ _Can it be every second?_ _ **Harsh.**_ He looked back at Aurora, who flipped back over to face him.

"You always look so serious, even when you're smiling."

"Sorry." He tried fixing his smile. She only laughed.

"I'm not criticizing you, I like it when you think." Her smile remained

"You wanna know what I'm thinking?" He asked, edging closer.

"What could possibly be on your mind that you want to tell me?" Her smile grew as he got closer.

"I'm thinking of…" He gave her a quick kiss, making her giggle. "...doing that and that I need to find Ardere and Frost."

"What for?"

"Secret guy stuff." He laughed as he scrunched her nose at him.

"I hope you remember that one of those 'guys' is my brother."

"That's why I need him for this." She somehow managed to scrunch her nose harder. "I tell you later." He turned to her before walking out the door. "Do us both a favor and stop trying to be a Walrus." He ducked under the cushion she threw at him. "You can throw something at me but can't roar at me?"

"Eclipse!" He quickly left before another flying cushion can assault him. It didn't take him long to find them, they were roaming around the marketplace. They called it shopping but they were simply pestering the merchants.

He led them into the ruined part of the city in silence, he wanted to make sure no one would interrupt them.

The moles have been hard at work restoring the city to its full glory, but everything still took time even for the small engineers. The fires of war have long since gone out, but everything still seemed to be greyer. Buildings laid collapsed upon themselves, piles of burnt timber littered the streets, and the streets still held divots where siege tower rounds landed. This is where they would train and equip themselves for the coming battle.

Ever since Eclipse learned of the Dark Army's reformation he's been putting his mind to work. His side handling battlefield strategy and his dark side dug out the memories of forging armor. He forged both his and Cynder's equipment, apes weren't exactly the best at making dragon armor. They didn't even know how to fix their own weapons.

It was mostly trial and error and long nights without sleep. Of course she never wore most of her armor, but it was the thought that eased his mind at the time. By the time she disappeared, he considered himself the best smith in the Dark Army. Mostly because he was the only one, again it was the thought that counted.

His dark side mentioned that it would be hard, let alone expensive. Most of his designs were for larger, adult dragons; he never expected to be making armor for younger dragons. It was a team effort between the two, neither of them liked it but it was needed.

Eclipse stopped them in the middle of a semi intact courtyard and studied the surrounding buildings.

"Why are we all the way out here? There's nothing here." Ardere groaned with impatience.

"You two are two of the only dragons I trust in this city." He told them, turning to face them.

"What does trust have to do with this?" Ardere gestured to the landscape around them.

"We are at war and I want you to come out alive." He moved between them, pulling them closer. "I wouldn't forgive myself otherwise."

"What do you need us to do?"

"We're going to train here and I'm going to build us some armor." He let them go and trotted around the circle design in the ground.

"Do the guardians know about this?" Frost looked uncomfortable.

"Cyril knows, he's paying me to make the armor and to train anyone who he thinks could benefit from a little advanced course."

"Is there anything you can't do?" Ardere gave him a slightly annoyed look.

"There is, like how I seem to as amphibious as a stone." He nudged him when he passed. "Getting you to actually like me is difficult as well."

"I respect you."

"Respecting me is different than liking me my friend."

"I'M NOT YOUR FRIEND."

"My point still stands." He smiled as the flash of anger subsided. "More will eventually join us here but until then it's just us five." Once again he stopped in the middle of the circle.

"There's only three of us here." Ardere pointed out.

"And now theres four." Spyro landed besides Eclipse, two small bags on his back. "Sorry for being late. Took me longer to get everything and I couldn't find Cynder anywhere."

"No worries, I'll take the bags and get started over there," He motioned to a raised terrace to their right. ",they're all yours oh mighty purple dragon." Spyro's laugh sounded fake. "It's only a little fun." He took the bags and placed them on his back before looking back at the other two. "Good luck." He trotted off as Spyro began talking, bags bouncing as he went up the steps. His terrace wasn't anything special, but it had all the basic utilities he would need.

Cyril was hesitant to allow for Eclipse to do this, telling him that he should leave it to the professionals, but he after he explained everything the ice guardian agreed. They agreed that he would provide the necessary funding as long as he would train whoever was sent his way. He wasn't going to forge armor for everyone, only the ones that three of them agree on.

He talked to Spyro the night before about helping him with this start up 'academy' and he too was hesitant to teach. He took a little more convincing but eventually he agreed to help. The supplies he got were just the basic materials, hammers, simple metals, the sorts. Eclipse himself would need to gather the more special ingredients.

He casually ducked as a rogue fireball shot over him, impacting the wall behind him. "If your going to fry me, can you at least light the forge first?" He yelled over to them. He smiled when Frost started laughing at Ardere shortly followed by Spyro.

"Why don't you get your sidekick to light it?" He shouted back, Spyro stopped laughing.

"I'm not his side-"

"We both know that purple flowers can't light forges." He ducked when another fireball was launched at him. "Besides he can't hit a stationary target."

"Shut up!"

"I'm only teasing Spyro, calm down." His laughter made Spyro frown more. Ardere pointed at him and laughed. He went back to work when Spyro swiftly tackled him.

He laid out all the contents of the bag, studying each carefully. They were mediocre tools at best but they would have to do for now. He began placing them in the respective stations and for once he felt his other side smile. _**We have much work ahead of us.**_ _Nothing I can't handle, as long as you hold up to your end of this._ _ **I keep my word.**_ He snorted. _**It was one time and it was a mistake.**_ _Start building a list, the sooner I can collect everything, the sooner the real work can begin._ _ **I've already started.**_ _Good._

He watched Spyro go at it with Ardere and Frost and for a moment he thought about doing this after the war. Making this into a guard academy or having his own blacksmith shop, maybe even both. It was only a matter of time before the war would end and the future would open up. _**You need to focus.**_ _Right._ He could think of his future life later, now he has to focus on getting everything else prepared.

He laid out a large scroll on his makeshift workbench. _Could you draw the designs?_ _ **They're our designs, of course I can draw them.**_ His counterpart got to work as soon as he released control of his forearms. Eclipse watched in amazement at the speed the designs were drawn on the scroll. His counterpart didn't speak during the process, leaving him alone to figure out who this was for.

His counterpart had searched through all the dark memories, slowly recreating the designs. He wondered what it was like or what made it so special to have his counterpart work so hard to recreate it's plans. He also found it strange that he had no recollection of the fabled suit of armor but he did lose parts of his memory when he died.

"How are you doing that?" He rolled up the plans and glared at Spyro.

"It's not me it's him." He answered, rolling he scroll back out. "This was apparently the armor I would've wore if I completed it."

Spyro gave a sharp whistle. "Wouldn't want to face you with that on."

"It's going to take a while to build but it's do-able." He ripped it off , rolled it, then replaced it with a new sheet.

"How many are you making?"

"Of that design? One." He rose an eyebrow to his answer.

"Only one? Eclipse, it could give us the edge we need."

"Spyro." He turned to him. "The suit of armor is tailored to enhance my abilities otherwise it's just like any other armor. I'm planning on making special sets for Ardere and Frost that do the same thing with their abilities."

"What about me and Cynder?"

"You two already have three sets of armor, you don't need another one." He smiled at him. "Besides, how can I make armor to enhance four different elements?"

"Good point."

Cyril dropped down next time them with a soft thump. For a moment he looked between the armor designs and the two sparring dragons. "Already at work I see." Spyro returned to the dragons, leaving him and Cyril to speak.

"It's not like we know how much time we have." They both watched Spyro give instructions to the dragons.

"I spoke to Terrador and Volteer. They agreed that this was a good idea, gives you three something to do that benefits the city."

"You say that as if your still on the edge."

"Because I am," Cyril looked at him. ",this is a bigger responsibility than you might think Eclipse. Training warriors isn't exactly a job for someone of your age." He understood his concern.

"I've been trained to be an assassin from a young age. Spyro has saved the three of you and the world twice. Then Cynder has been bounced between the dark and the light for her entire life. I don't think we're exactly like others our age." Eclipse pointed out to him, meeting his gaze.

"I suppose you're right." He sighed "That's besides the point however, the scouts have returned from the caves. You're going to want to hear their report."

"Should I tell Spyro?" Another stray fireball went over their heads.

"Leave him be, he has his work cut out for him it seems." He wiped bits of stone brick off the top of his head. They took off into the sky and started flying towards the council chamber.

* * *

"You're the last one?" Volteer's voice radiated his disbelief. The guardians sent a five member scouting party into the caves, assisted by three cheetah pathfinders. There was only one survivor. Most of them died in the caves with the fourth scout succumbing to his injuries minutes after he made it behind the walls. Spyro was the only one not in attendance, he was still training Ardere and Frost.

"I'm afraid so sir." The scout confirmed.

"Just call me Eclipse, I'm still not old enough to be a sir." Eclipse stared at the hastily made map of the cave system, subconsciously connecting it to his own mapping efforts. "Is this all your team could gather."

"Yes. I apologize for not getting more."

"There's no need to apologize… what's your name again?" He asked, a little embarrassed.

"Nathora."

"There's no need to apologize Nathora. You and your team did the best you could." He praised. "Get some food and rest. Come find me here in the morning."

"Thank you s-" She paused. "Thank you, Eclipse." She quickly left and Eclipse went back to the map. Silence filled the room, everyone simply looking between each other.

"One survivor. One out of seven of our best." Volteer thought aloud. "Ancestors, what are we up against."

"We should be grateful that she managed to escape." Terrador patted him on the back.

"She brought us nothing new!" Eclipse slammed a fist on the table. "I already knew every path on that map, I could've drawn that map with better accuracy. They died for nothing." He sat and bashed his head on the table. "I should've gone with them."

"We couldn't have known that Armavir would find them." Cyril attempted to comfort him

"We shouldn't have sent them." Cynder finally spoke up. "I have reason to believe that Spyro just wanted to get rid of Eclipse." Everyone looked at her.

"Why would he wish that? Surely your ju-"

"Because he's jealous." Terrador interrupted.

"I'll have a talk with him but we can't be going off of what he could and could not be feeling." Eclipse lifted his head off the table. "Right now we need to focus on how to deal with this." He gestured to the map.

"Eclipse is right, Spyro's issues with him needs to wait till after we win this war." Terrador placed his front paws on the table. "He knows we'll be expecting him now."

"He won't be making another mistake like this one. At least not in in the foreseeable future." Cyril joined the two at the table.

"We should attack him now and finish this war before more lives are lost." Volteer paced the length of the table. "It would be better to go on the offensive before he puts our own homes at risk."

"He's expecting us to launch an assault, many lives would be lost. Besides we don't have enough trained soldiers for a reasonable attack."

"Just send the three of them." He motioned to both Cynder and Eclipse. "These two could probably handle him just fine and with Spyro they will surely defeat him."

"You would send a strike team to engage an army? Are you mad or is your mouth going faster than your head again?" Cyril locked eyes with him.

"They don't need to eliminate the army, all we need is for them to strike Armavir down. You said it yourself Eclipse, if Armavir falls then the army will dissipate!" Volteer defended himself while looking to Eclipse for support.

"Even if we go on this mission." Eclipse looked up at Cynder then back down. "There's no guarantee that we can get to Armavir let alone kill him."

"Well we can't sit here and let Warfang be sieged again! The city is barely holding on as it is, another siege will surely break us!" Volteer insisted.

"We did it once we can do it again!"

"How are we going to survive this one? If it's anything like his siege," Once again he gestured to Eclipse. ", we will NOT survive."

"As long as those walls are up, we still have hope!"

"Do you forget that we almost lost the wall?"

"Do you forget that Spyro and Cynder saved the city?"

"QUIET!" Terrador silenced them. "We will NOT send our three greatest fighters on a suicide mission just to avoid another siege."

"Thank you Terrador." Cyril nodded towards him will Volteer looked at the world map.

"I know the three of you have taken it upon yourselves to train some of the younger volunteers." Cynder looked confused. "How many will you take?"

"With the three of us." He looked back on Cynder, slightly wincing. "Twelve more? Spyro is already training two and I'm planning on recruiting Nathora to the program."

"I'll gather them up and bring them your way." Cyril left quickly afterwards.

"If someone told me I would be fighting my own army or training a handful of younger dragons three years ago, I would've ended them." Eclipse stated with a sigh. "I hope this is the last war I need to fight."

"Don't we all." Terrador agreed with his own sigh.

"What is this program I'm supposed to be teaching?" Cynder looked between them.

"I proposed to the guardians the idea that me, you, and Spyro would take a small amount of younger volunteers to train. In return we would be funded in full and I would be allowed to forge armor for some of the recruits." Eclipse explained, coming around the table. "Spyro was suppose to tell you before we started today but you were too hard to find."

"What makes you think I want to be a teacher?"

"Because I've spent enough time with you to know that you don't want untrained young ones going into battle and dying." Eclipse looked into her eyes. "Cynder, c'mon. This is a way for us to save some lives that would otherwise be lost."

"How many would I be in charge of?"

"Five," His left eye changed red. ",trust us. We can make this work." She stared into his different colored eyes for a long moment, resisting the urge to get lost in them. _Would this be worth it? How do we know that they will even survive with our help?_ She wondered what started this idea, and why the guardians agreed to it. "What do you say? Will you join me and your goofball of a savior and prepare these kids for war?"

"I don't have a choice do I?" She asked with a small smile.

"You always have a choice when it comes to me."

"Fine." She gave him a playful shove. "I guess I can add teacher to my ever expanding resume."


	9. Chapter 9

In the month since the scout debrief, the three have been rigorously training their recruits in both magical and physical combat. The three of them decided to split the trainees into groups called 'flights' each assigned to one of them. Spyro was handling the trainees who needed help with their elements, helping them focus it more. Cynder took on the students who needed to refine their fighting techniques, helping them with their melee skills. Eclipse had the more advanced students, he focused on merging magical and physical combat styles. It was hard work for everyone involved, constantly teaching new material and then having them practice it over and over again.

Eclipse has also been taking his flight out on expeditions to both give them combat experience and to gather the unique ingredients for the armor. He knew it was selfish of him to use his flight like that but they told him that they enjoyed the trips. They also said that they enjoy watching him fight and how he works. He somewhat liked the idea of being a role model but it also felt unnatural.

From what he could tell, Spyro and Cynder haven't talked about each other yet or at least they haven't said anything about it. Spyro's been getting more and more hostile towards him, going as far as trying to actually injure him during demonstrations. His scales have also been slowly getting darker, but he never brought it up in conversation. Cynder seems to have fully accepted the idea of him not returning her kind of affections, they've stayed close though.

Aurora was released from the clinic but is still recovering from the head trauma. She'll have episodes where she'll think she's still in the forest or she'll suddenly feel tired. She is getting better, usually Eclipse or Frost will help her whenever she needs it. She also comforts Eclipse whenever the stress of managing everything gets to him. Aurora mostly watches them from Eclipse's pseudo-blacksmith terrace.

Whenever he's not training or teaching his flight, he's working on the sets of armor he promised. Though with his flight being more advanced and requiring less attention then the Silver and Gold Flights, he's found more and more time to work on them. So far only himself, Ardere and Frost have complete sets with two more being worked on. He hid the finished sets from them, he didn't want Armavir to see them.

He's been unsettlingly peaceful but that just meant more time to prepare. Eclipse has spotted the same red dragon from the great hall attack lurking around Warfang. The dragon has been stalking him in the streets but he would disappear before Eclipse could confront him. He didn't want to take the chance of Armavir sabotaging the armor or stealing them entirely. Spyro was right, if used correctly, they could change the tide of the battle.

He watched as the trainees continued to spar with each other with limited intervention from Spyro or Cynder. A small smile snuck onto his face as he did.

"I think you should keep this going." Aurora sat next to him. "You clearly enjoy it."

"What use would this training be after the war? After Armavir loses, then who's left for us to fight." Eclipse pulled her closer with his wing.

"What about a normal school instead of just battle training? Not everything is about war." She placed her head of his shoulder.

"I am war, it's really the only thing I can do." He weakly laughed.

"What about smithing? You're good at that." She swiveled around on her chin to look at him.

"Only because I've had help from my other side." He gave her a quick kiss on the nose.

"You put yourself down too often. You need to give yourself credit for some things." She looked back down at the trainees.

"Like what? My ability to train people for war?"

"No, You're good at protecting others." She snuggled closer to him.

"You're head trauma and Flame's wings say otherwise." He shivered remembering how his wings looked after the explosion.

"Eclipse…"

"What? It's the truth. I failed you and at least forty-one others since we got here." He took on a somber tone. She grabbed the side of face and pulled him into another kiss.

"I got a little hurt, it's a part of life."

"You could've died in there." His eyes reflected his sadness.

"But I'm still alive and I'm recovering thanks to you."

"If I was faster or if I didn't go after Armavir-"

"Eclipse, there was no way you could've known he would've done that." He winced. "There is nothing you could do in this world that would make me think that you failed me."

"I still failed everyone else."

"You haven't failed your flight, nor the guardians…"

"Aurora-"

"...you haven't failed Frost or Ardere…"

"Aurora-"

"...not even Spyro or Cynder."

"Aurora, please."

"Eclipse, no one thinks that you failed that day, and no one has thought that. This self-doubt? It's all in your head, you're too stressed." He listened to the reason in her voice, keeping his eyes somewhere in hers. "Take a break, a day off. It's not like your flight of students are lacking in any way. They are the advanced ones after all."

"I don't think I can do that. There's too much at stake here." Then he had an idea. He let go of her and looked back over the trainees. "All flights, please gather round." He ordered. They all stopped sparing almost instantly, then trotted over to him. Spyro and Cynder joined him with confused looks on their faces. "You've all been working hard this past month and for that I wish to thank you for your commitment. So as a reward for all this hard work," He smiled at them. "I decided to give some of you the rest of the day off."

Smiles and curious looks spread among them, some of them were were whispering between each other. _They're already making plans._ He brought his smile to Cynder and Spyro to see that they were still confused.

"I can tell that you would all want the day off," They put their attention back to Eclipse. "However only three of you will get it, one from each flight." He let it sink. "We are going to have a little tournament, whoever gets the most wins gets the rest of the day off and…" One of them cocked their head. "... the three of them have a chance to get the entire week off."

"Eclipse, this isn't a good idea." Spyro whispered to him, but Aurora actually pushed him away.

"Don't worry." He told the purple dragon, seemingly appeasing him for the time being. "Spyro, Cynder, organize your flights' tournaments and I'll do mine." It didn't take long before the event was organized with Cynder's Silver flight going first.

Himself along with the rest of the students watched the fights and they were intense. It didn't look like they were holding back, even Frost was pushing himself to win. It wasn't that surprising that Frost did go undefeated in his flight, he had the real combat experience. Eclipse's Onyx flight was more balanced, with Nathora only winning by a single win. For the most part, it seemed like everyone was enjoying this competition. There were smiles all around the circle, even though there was a prize involved. It wasn't until Spyro's Gold flight, that things started to deteriorate. Mainly it was Ardere that worried him.

Ardere worried Eclipse whenever they had the big sparring matches, he was too competitive. It didn't help that, like with most fire dragons, he also had a short temper. Ardere was aggressive, sometimes he didn't know when to stop. Spyro was constantly pulling him, aside to talk about restraint with him but it couldn't be helped. All flame dragons face the same aggressive and short temper issue.

He was also against Nathora's younger brother, Norgon. A smaller electric dragon that tended to take to the more diplomatic options. He's been working hard just as everyone else, but he was honestly one of the weaker fighters they had. Even with his advanced ability he's not that high on the private rankings the three of them kept. He was also subject to Ardere's harsh treatment because of this.

All the smiles dropped when they realized the next pair of opponents, tension conquered the space around them. No one moved, no one made a sound. It felt like both nothing could happen and everything could happen. He want to call this match off, it wasn't fair to Norgon and he knew what Ardere could, maybe would, do to him.

The red dragon snarled at Norgon, sending shivers down his spine. They began to circle each other, Ardere still snarling. Norgon was calm, he seemed to walk with purpose instead of the usual fear. He was strangely confident in posture, almost in a cocky way. Ardere was low, stalking him like a predator.

Eclipse looked at Spyro, he too looked nervous. His talon was silently bouncing off the ground with anxiety. He wanted to go over to him and ask if he should call this one off, but it felt like that would set the two off. Cynder's eyes were fixed on Ardere as if she was going to tackle him if he moved. Aurora kept switching between the two, Nathora watched Norgon like a hawk. Everyone was holding their breath.

It was instant. Ardere flew across the circle, front limbs outstretched towards Norgon and his yellow scales. Norgon whipped around, bringing his tail to collide with the side of Ardere's head. The impact threw him sideways, shifting all the weight to throw him to the side. He rolled on the ground, stopping himself barely before the edge of the circle.

The side of his head began to bleed, he reached up and felt the crimson liquid. More rage filled his eyes when they focused on his blood. He looked up, locking onto the one who did it. Flame poured onto his scales, slowly covering his scales like a blanket. He launched himself again, his jaw wide open with an orange light at the back of his throat.

Norgon quickly rolled under him, barely squeezing underneath the engulfed dragon. Ardere landed and almost simultaneously turned towards his opponent. His breath of flame shot towards Norgon, the radiating heat reaching Eclipse on the other side of the ring. Norgon dove out of the way, making an ice dragon bring up an ice barrier to stop the incoming flames.

Ardere was on top of him, pinning him to the ground. Norgon struggled beneath him, trying to unbalance him but Ardere is heavier than him. They locked eyes and Norgon stopped trying to escape.

"Ardere wins." Spyro called but nothing happened. "You can get off him now Ardere."

He didn't move and neither did Norgon, no one did. Cydner started forward but one of the students stopped her. Eclipse looked around the circle, everyone was staring are the combatants. Their rapid breathing was the only thing he could hear.

"Ardere get off of him." Spyro commanded, breaking from his place in the circle. Ardere whipped around and struck the side of Spyro's head with the blunt side of his tailblade. Exactly what Norgon did to him. Spyro fell to the ground unconscious. Eclipse saw the orange glow of fire building in Ardere's throat, his fear pushed him forward.

He tackled him off of Norgon, bringing them into a roll. Nathora grabbed Norgon and pulled him behind her then into the circle. Cynder dragged Spyro away as they wrestled across the ring. Eclipse smashed Ardere's head into the ground, forcing him to stop. He was on top of him while Ardere was noticeably dazed. The orange glow faded at the back of his throat. Eclipse released his hold on his head but kept him on the ground.

He felt everyone's eyes rest on them along with the same unsettling silence as with Ardere and Norgon. _**They're scared of you.**_ _No they're not, they're afraid of Ardere._ _ **Then why do I feel the same fear as from the village?**_ He looked around, meeting everyone's eyes and the hard truth presented itself. _They are afraid of me._ He noticed that his free paw was wrapped around Ardere's throat. He slowly got off of him, studying himself as he did. His paws were shaking, his legs felt weak, he felt his own fear swell inside him.

 _ **You need to calm down.**_ _I was ready to kill him, I was going to kill him._ _ **Eclipse, calm.**_ _What's wrong with me?_ He kept stepping backwards, the students eyes still watching him. _**Calm.**_ His talons began to uncontrollably twitch, he felt his muscles spasm in his back legs. _What are you doing?_ _ **You need to leave.**_ His vision was flickering from normal to the crimson tint of his counterpart.

His wings spread without his consent, his eyes widened in shock. He was in the sky and flying away before he could say no. The yells of Aurora and Cynder faded the farther away he went, slowly disappearing under the silence. He was taken to a ruined building far away from the training ground. They said nothing to each other as he entered the dark building. The only light came through the sheets that covered the holes in the walls. Dusty furniture inhabited the dark rooms, long out of use.

He walked between the rooms encased in bouncing thoughts and internal conversation. He heard the soothing voice of Aurora in his head, his counterpart finally releasing his body. His heart slowly relaxed and his fear fell away with the dark thoughts. His counterpart silenced himself, leaving him alone.

He found himself in front of a doorway covered by another sheet of cloth. Dread creeped up his spine, almost like he didn't know what was on the other side. Faint whispers swam around him and a dark light peeked through the cracks. He released a large breath, he's worried thoughts slowly dissolved. He lifted the sheet and stepped under it, letting it drop as he passed through.

The whispers and darkness retreated as his eyes adjusted to the lighting of the room. Orange fire light illuminated the other wise lightless room, painting an orange tint on everything it held. Six wooden racks formed a circle in the center of the room, four of which were filled with full sets of armor. His fabled sets of armor, specially crafted to enhance a dragon's natural element and abilities.

He ran a paw over the cold plates of the nearest suit. While it was cold to the touch, but he could feel the familiar warmth of dragon fire reach for him. While they paled in comparison to his armor during his time under Malefor, he had no doubt they would serve their purpose fine. He sat in the middle of them, studying the forged metal for imperfections. There was no room for error.

They eased his mind of the battle to come, he knew that he didn't need to worry about the wearers as much as he did. Many would die in the siege; dragon, mole, cheetah, all would surely see staggering casualties. He wanted to save them all, for him to be the only casualty but he knew death followed war. He grabbed the helmet of another set, holding it for him to see.

"So this is where you keep them." Cydner passed under the cloth door, slowly walking towards him. "They're beautiful."

"You followed me?" He ignored her compliment.

"You took off like a ghost was chasing you, I was worried." She ran her paw along the same piece of armor she did. "How is it doing that?"

"Enchantments paired with a bit of fresh obsidian." He answered, placing the light helmet back on the stand. "Nothing too fancy for our hot-headed friend."

"He almost killed Norgon and knocked Spyro out. Aren't you mad?"

"Anger doesn't exactly look good on me. Besides, now isn't the best time to be putting splinters in relationships." He looked at her with a grin.

"What should we do with him and the others?"

"I'll deal with Ardere, and tell the others we'll continue the competition tomorrow. They have the rest of the day off." He exited the circle of armor and stood in front of her. "Is Spyro being seen by a doctor?"

"He's already awake but yeah, he hobbled off before I left."

"Good, he's strong. I can see why you like him." He smiled again.

"You mean stubborn?"

"I would be stubborn too if I had to be stuck with you for three years." He laughed as she hit his chest.

"You were stuck with me for four times that long." She giggled back.

"Ah, you see there's a difference."

"Besides from it being longer and we were both evil?"

"Well there's that," She giggled again. ",but we weren't stuck in a crystal and I could leave whenever I wanted." It was his turn to laugh when she hit him again. "Well, I'm not going to stop you if you wanna look at them, just don't tell anyone that they're here."

"No problem." He went over to a bench in the corner of the room, where a line of neck plates waited for him. The plates began to glow green as he approached, as if it was calling out to him. The glow reached out for him, wrapping itself around his forearms. It creeped over his black scales, repairing them from the fight with Ardere. He smiled as he watched it work, mentally congratulating himself. _**You get excited too easily.**_ _Quiet._

Picking up the plates, he brought them over to an empty rank and slid them on. The glow retracted itself from Eclipse, returning to the armor before dissipating. He looked at the places where it fixed, it was completely healed with no imperfections. He looked up at Cydner but she looked away before they could make eye contact.

"What is it?" He asked as he noticed a small blush on her.

"Nothing." She stated rather quickly.

"Liar."

"Just go back to work." She pushed him away when he approached.

"Cyn," Her blush intensified. ",just tell me"

"There's nothing to tell." She tried to push him again. "So you can get back to work."

"You were picturing me in my armor, weren't you?" He laughed when she shyly nodded her head. "Last time I wore armor in front of you was when I left you at Convexity."

"I know, but for some reason I still find myself attracted to you." She admitted, looking up at him.

"Cyn…" He trailed off.

"I know what I said and I know we agreed on this but understand that, what was three years for you was only six months for me." He understood her explanation, he didn't move on that quickly either.

He pulled her in, wrapping her in his warm cloak of darkness. It was their favorite thing to do, relax in a peaceful embrace. His memories of her came flooding back like a tidal wave. Part of him told him it was wrong, but he couldn't ignore the same warm and happy feeling he felt.

 _Stop making me feel this way._ _ **I'm not, you're doing this yourself.**_ It didn't make sense to him, this affection for her that's been resurrected. What he felt for her, he also felt for Aurora, questions clouded his mind. Some boomed like thunder, others flashed like lightning, they were all not making any sense.

"I'm sorry if I make things difficult between you and Aurora, but I can't help this. It's a part of me that I can't seem to change." She tightened her grip around him, digging her head deeper into the space between his shoulder and neck.

"I would be lying if I told you that I didn't share these feelings." She dug herself deeper into him. "That I don't cling on to those memories of us. That I don't feel jealous when I see you look at him like you looked at me." He pulled her closer, putting his own head on her shoulder. "That sometimes my eyes see emeralds instead of sapphires." His voice cracked. "That your name almost comes out instead of her's. Sometimes her scales change to black and I don't know what to do."

"Then why deny yourself? Why ignore what your heart is telling you?"

"There's something inside me, something that's always been there but never showed itself. It's evil, something we've never faced before and I'm scared. I'm scared that it will claw its way out, that it will devour me." He brought her face to line with his, resting his forehead on top of hers. "I. Love. You. But I'm afraid of what will happen if I let myself love you. Even now it's fighting my other half for control, and she's the only one that can stop it. I love her because if I didn't, then I would fall apart."

"Eclipse, I-"

"I do love her, I fell for her before I even knew she could suppress the thing in me. It only makes me want to love her more, to be what she wants me to be." He let the tears fall from his face and roll down her back. "I need her more than she realizes but at the same time all I want is you."

"We'll find a way to save you." She kissed him and he tightened his grip more. His mind screamed at him to stop when he kissed her back. She pulled back, putting her paws on the sides of his head. "I won't abandon you again. I promise."

Everything felt wrong, everything felt utterly wrong. He couldn't comprehend what he told her, what they did, it was all a mess in his head. The thoughts in his head circled around and around, trying to fight for dominance. He didn't know which to trust and which to block out, they were all the same in some way.

 _ **What is your name?**_ _My name is Eclipse._ _ **Where are you?**_ _I'm in my armor storage room, in Warfang._ _ **When did you realize you had feelings for both of them?**_ _When I told Cynder and Spyro of my journey here._ _ **Why did you lie to her about your feelings?**_ _I was afraid that I might hurt her. That I was still too dark to love her again._ _ **What are you waiting for?**_ _I need to find out what's trying to destroy me._


	10. Chapter 10

"You don't understand, she's the only reason I haven't lost to it yet." Eclipse looked to the ground. "If I lose her…" He trailed off again.

"There's always a way." She pulled his head back up. "Whatever it is, we can find a way to beat it. You've fought too hard and too long just to lose to yourself." She kissed him again but he didn't return the affection. "Promise me that you won't give up."

"I can't promise that. For once in my life, this is a battle I can't win. This battle," He looked into her eyes. ",it's coming to an end and I'm scared that I will lose."

"You won't, not while I'm alive. I don't care if you spend the rest of your life with her, as long as it means that your still you by the end of the day. I would rather suffer a shattered heart than have you but lose you at the same time." She put her head back in between his shoulder and neck. _Is there really no other way?_ _ **She's the only one that can help us.**_ _Then why is this so difficult?_ _ **Soon, I won't be here to fight it. It will be up to you.**_ _I'm scared, I don't want to lose._ _ **good.**_ _Why is that good?_ _ **Because it shows you're not a fool.**_

"Cynder? Eclipse?" Aurora's voice echoed through the ruined building. He quickly let go of Cynder and went to go greet Aurora. He looked back to see that Cynder was looking at her paws with a saddened expression. With a sigh, he went back to her, gave her a quick kiss, then left the room. "There you are, how are you feeling?" She asked after he emerged from his workplace.

"I'm fine Aurora, I just need to clear my head." He responded with a smile.

"Did Cynder find you? I asked her to make sure you were okay." Her own smile filled him with warmth.

"I'm happy to report that he's still with us." Cynder emerged behind him, playfully hitting him with her wing.

"I can see that." Aurora giggled. "What were you two doing back there anyway?"

"Well, as it turns out," She grabbed the dragoness and pulled her into the armor room. ",this is where he keeps all his finished work."

"I thought we'd agreed that you wouldn't tell anyone that they were here?" He followed after them.

"She was already here so it doesn't apply to her." She stuck her tongue out at him. Cynder had managed to light more torches, brightening the room and putting the armors in better light.

"These are beautiful Eclipse, how did you manage to forge these in such a short amount of time?" She gasped as she entered the room. "Who are these for?"

"My flight was deemed the advanced group so I was really needed to teach them. I simply taught them how to better mix magical and physical combat styles. So while they were practicing that, I worked on these. It also didn't hurt that they wanted to help gather materials on pseudo field trips." He moved past them and patted two of the sets. "I've got five sets done and two more on the final stages. The last pieces should actually be done, down by my terrace."

"Should I get them for you?" Cynder offered.

"That would be a lot of help if you could." He smiled. "They could be heavy though."

"Don't worry about me, I'll be back soon." She left them alone.

"Who are these for?" She ran her paw along the same armor Cynder had, jumping back when she felt the warmth.

"This one..." The armor shared the same color as normal dragon fire, a light orange with it getting progressively darker the closer it got to the edge. The helmet covered the entire upper half of the face, only leaving eyes exposed. Obsidian poked through the back, offering protection for the base of the wearers horns. The chest plate held a rune that matched the traditional symbol of fire. That's where the magic found it's source, with the rune and a under coat of obsidian, it was able to withstand Ardere's fire scales and even project the heat outwards. Plates extended from the base plate along the sides and back with more obsidian forming a black river running with the plates. It followed the plates downward onto the half bracers that would cover the legs while also keeping vital joints the freedom to move. The river of black culminated together decorating the base of the tail with another symbol of fire. The tail was protected by smaller plates, light enough to ensure that it didn't limit movement, but protective enough to do its job. "... is for the ever so friendly, Ardere. It was the first one I made."

"And you're sure it can withstand Ardere's fire scales?" She traced a talon over the obsidian river.

"In theory, yes." She gave him a worried look. "This is ancient magic, the rune should do what its meant to do, even then I'm sure the obsidian could handle it. I would rather not have Ardere become a statue." He reassured her, guiding her to the next suit.

"Frost?"

"Certainly." Frost's was easier to make than Ardere. His armor was mostly light blue with bits of white tracing along the edges. The helmet was similar to Ardere's except instead it continued half way down the back of his neck with steep inclines that covered the tops of the spikes on the neck. The body plates were general smaller than that of Ardere's but instead they formed a second layer of scales like chainmail. This allowed the chill of his advanced ability to vent without sacrificing protection. The magic would ensure that the element wouldn't cause the armor to freeze solid but instead redistribute it across the entire suit. His bracers allowed for the chill to be applied in his talons, both reinforcing them and turning it into a weapon. The scaled plates on the tail did the same, taking the chill and putting it onto the end of the tail. He also placed an ice rune on the top of his head, between his horns, that would help sustain the temperature of the scales. "It's going to help keep him safe while not getting in the way of his already defensive element."

"Same thing with Ardere's fire scales?"

"The rune and the way I scaled the plates ensures that he won't get locked up." He brought her attention to the third set on display.

"Who's this one for?"

"Take guess, bet you can't." He teased with a smile.

"What do I get if I win?"

"Hmmm…" He thought for a moment." "What do you want?"

"How about you for a day?" She smiled happily back at him.

"I think I can manage that." He kissed her cheek causing her to giggle.

"Is that for wind dragoness in Cynder's flight? What's her name?"

"Opholia? No, it's not for her. Two more guesses." He laughed when she groaned.

"Is it one of your students?" She tilted her head slightly.

"Maybe, maybe not. You'll know when you get it right." She groaned again.

"It's not for me is it?" She tilted her head a little.

"No, I wouldn't make you armor if you didn't ask. That and you're not exactly the warrior type." She scrunched her nose at him.

"I can be a warrior!"

"Assaulting me with cushions doesn't count." He laughed. "One last guess."

"Cynder?"

"Good job." He pulled her in with his wing. At first he wasn't going to build an armor set for Cynder but he felt compelled to make one. Even though she technically had four elements, she was born as a wind dragoness. It took longer to build this set, as it required to be light enough for the wind rune to properly function. The helmet didn't completely cover her face, three streaks of metal covered the sides of her head and along the top of her muzzle. The white chest plate was decorated with dark grey wind runes, which hopefully would nearly double her speed. The runes faded into a grey strip that would run along her back, then split off to spiral down to point at her bracers. The bracers were the smallest ones he made but they were light, but could still withstand as much punishment as anyone else's. Her back plates met at the base of her tail and proceed downward before stopping at her tail ring. It was built light and had lithium weaved into parts where it was least likely to be struck. The rune did help with the overall weight as well, to compensate for the reinforcement in the critical areas.

"I thought you couldn't make armor that improved four different elements?" She asked snuggling closer to him.

"It's actually designed to only enhance her natural wind element. She was given the other three by Malefor's corruption." He explained as he brought her to the last one.

"You made one for Spyro? I thought all his elements were natural sense he's a purple dragon."

"They are however this armor is meant to improve his weakest element: Earth. It was the last one he's been taught and it's actually quite weak compared to the other three." This was the most protective armor out of all the armors he's designed, almost solely based around the improvement of the elements defensive nature. The helmet covered the entire upper half of his face, much like Ardere's. There was no neck plates for Spyro's, unlike the others but that was covered by the extended collar from the chest plate. Titanium plates continued along the dragon's frame, coming to a stop just before his underbelly and the base of his tail. His bracers came over his talons, lending him it's strength. The tail was protected by more plates held in place by leather straps and the spikes on his tail. Dark purple runes distinguished themselves against the royal purple of the rest of the armor. It was intended to both lighten the weight of the entire suit while compensating for the lack of reinforcement with it's own magical version. "When Cynder gets back, my work will be done until it's decided if someone else should get their own set."

"Where's yours? I know you made one for yourself, I saw it on your design table earlier." She asked looking at the two empty racks behind them.

"That is a closely guarded secret." He told her with a smug expression.

"Even for me?" She looked at him with a pleading look.

"Yes, even for the most beautiful dragoness in Warfang." He placed a kiss on her forehead. "Think of it like a present when I come back."

"Then you better come back to me, the suspense is killing me." She dramatically fell on his paws. She stared at him in an affectionate way, as she normally did. He smiled down at her, inner peace flooding his insides. "I need you to come back, Eclipse." She changed into a more serious tone. "I lost you once, I can't lose you again."

"I'm not that easy to get rid of." He laughed but she didn't join in, instead she remained serious.

"Eclipse…" Her words died in her throat.

"Hmm?" She sat up, coming face to face with him.

"Do you-"

"ECLIPSE!" Cynder's panicked voice interrupted her. She burst through the cloth, dropping various pieces of armor as she did. "The army…. is at…. the gates!" Her wings dropped to the ground. "I flew…. as fast as I could."

"Where are all the flights?" He asked, using his own wings to steady her.

"They all took off after I told them they had the day off. I don't know."

"Get everyone together. Tell Norgon, Nathora, Ardere and Frost to come directly here, give them directions from the training ground. Everyone else must get their armor on and meet here, do you understand?"

"I'll get them here, don't worry." She quickly left, lifting off the ground barely out of the building.

"Aurora, find Ember and Flame. Stay with them and whatever you do, DO NOT leave them until myself, Spyro, or one of the guardians says it's safe." She grabbed him, hugging him

"Don't go dying on me again."

"It'll take a little more than grublins to kill me." He reassured her, then left for the inner city.

He heard the siege towers begin to fire into the city, the rounds impacting various buildings causing them to cry in agony. All the stands were moved farther apart to give more space to put them on. He picked up the armor pieces off the ground, quickly putting them with their respective stands.

Norgon and Nathora arrived first, cladded in the standard steel armor that came with joining the guard. They were quickly ushered inside and shown their custom sets, the two don't waste time changing out their old armor. Ardere and Frost dropped down next with Eclipse repeating the same process with them.

The others arrived shortly afterwards, assembling into their flights. He didn't speak to them however, more focused on helping put on the armor. Ardere and Frost were the first ones out the door surprisingly, they left to prepare their fellow trainees. Nathora pushed her brother out the door once he had everything besides his helmet.

He instructed for Nathora to take the flight to the defense without him, she was hesitant at first but she understood it needed to be done. Cynder returned with Spyro in tow but she was in her armor and out the door quickly. She took both her flight and Spyro's to the battle, leaving only the two of them to get their armor.

"Don't worry about me, I know my way into armor." Spyro protested as he was helping him. "Get yours on."

"How many times have you put full armor sets on?" He raised an eyebrow at him while help him with some of the straps.

"I had full sets before!"

"Spyro, you had a helmet, bracers and a back plate. That's not a full set, it's more formal attire than armor. All it would take is an arrow from a archer and you would be dead, and something tells me we still need a purple dragon around." He tightened the strap around his midsection. "Besides, you need to lose weight."

"Not the best time to be cracking jokes."

"Sorry, you're just too tense for my liking. You need to calm down." He patted his shoulder as he went by. "You're all set, I'll be there once I get my armor on." One of the doors lead him to a darker room, barely lit by the peaking light.

"I'll help you." Spyro followed him into the room, lighting it with a plum of flame.

"Don't worry, I made sure mine could be put on without help. You're needed in battle." He turned to him, meeting his gaze. He sighed when he saw the reflections of the silver runes in Spyro's eyes.

"Eclipse, that armor isn't safe. It gives me the chills." Eclipse smiled at his caution.

"Frost's armor is meant to give you the worst chills but you're worried about mine?"

"It's evil."

"You already think I'm evil, so it must be fitting." With a sharp turn he started putting on the black armor.

"I don't think you're evil." Spyro grabbed the plates he was reaching for and tried to put it on him. He flinched away from his touch. "Let me help."

"DON'T, touch me." He growled.

"I can't help you if I can't touch you." He reached again.

"I said DON'T touch me." He quickly grabbed the plates, letting them slid down his neck. He shivered when the dark plates came to rest, giving his scales their cold embrace. The darkness coiled around him, attempting to infect him with it's corrupting touch.

"I can feel it coming off of you Eclipse. Are you sure this is a good idea?" He grabbed the helmet before him and tucked it under his wing.

"It won't affect anyone else, it's basically telling me if anything is around me. So say something tries to strike me from behind, I'll know its there and be able to react properly." He reached for his helmet but Spyro tucked it further back. "I need my helmet."

"Let me put it on you."

"Just give me the helmet."

"Eclipse."

"We're arguing over who gets to put on my helmet." He deadpanned.

"I'm trying to help you, that's what friends do." Spyro reasoned.

"You don't think of me as a friend." He scoffed finally getting the helmet from Spyro.

"Yes I do. Why do you think I don't?"

"I saw whats in there." He tapped the side of his head. "You think of me as competition, as someone that can ruin everything. You sent a scouting group out in hopes I would accompany them and die. You hate me, but you don't want to show that side of you. It would damage your image as a hero." Eclipse grabbed the helmet from under his wing. "I trust that you can put your feelings towards me aside and help me defend this city. I don't care what you think of me but if you jeopardize anyone's safety then that makes you my enemy. Don't let it come to that, please. It would be horrible to make Cynder choose between us." Spyro was visibly stunned at his words.

Eclipse walked out of the building and watched a siege tower round bring down a tower. The city was already burning, civilians were still fleeing the center of the city while the guards either escorted them or flew towards the walls. Spyro exited behind him gasping as another round collided with another building in the distance.

His armor wrapped itself in a cloak of darkness, hiding the gaps between the various plates that formed it. His helmet was more of a mask, clouding anyone's view of his eyes and most of his face. The neck plates protected the back of his neck, eventually leading onto his wings to provide them with limited protection. Various silver runes trickled down from his helmet, dividing into rivers of light, all culminating into a spiral on his chest that resembled the symbol for shadow. The armor continued around his body, running down his entire length before meeting at his tail and ending before the blade at its end. The same rune was painted on top of all four of his bracers, subtly fighting the armor's unnatural darkness. They were meant to increase his already unusually high capacity for mana. It also lessened the weight of all the metal on his back, allowing him to fight for longer in the suit. The dark wisps retreated from the sunlight, returning to their homes in the armor.

"I need you to promise me something." He looked at him over his shoulder.

"You trust me enough for me to keep a promise?"

"I trust that you would honor a warrior's dying wish."

"You're not going to die today." Spyro refrained from placing a paw on his shoulder.

"I don't plan on dying today but I want to be assured something." He turned to face him. "If I do die or otherwise become unlikely to continue living here, I need you to look after Aurora for me."

"What about Frost and Ardere? They can look after-"

"Spyro, promise me."

"Why do you want me? Why not Cynder?" He asked

"Because…" He stopped himself. "I'll tell you if it comes to that. Just promise me." There was a uneasy silence between them.

"If you die, I'll make sure Aurora is cared for." He promised.

"Thank you." He nodded. "Now, shall we." He motioned to the raging battle.

"We shall." They took to the skies together, flying towards the battle at the walls.

The siege was in full swing. Moles manned catapults and traded rounds with the advancing siege towers while dragons fought from the skies, raining the elements upon the army. The large gate was already being pounded by a battering ram, the fiery seal was showing signs of breaking. Dark wyverns were dropping grublin foot soldiers on the wall, where they engaged dragons in close combat.

He spotted Terrador swinging his massive tail at a group of grublins, sending them off the walls. Volteer grappled with a wyvern above while Cyril shot others out of the sky with icicles. Cynder and Nathora were leading the students to the gate as an attempt to hold the doors closed.

A siege tower round nearly knocked them from the sky, instead finding its way into a surrounding building. They landed among smoke and fire on the walls, the dead of both sides littered among them. The smell of death was already weaving its way into their noses and pools of blood started to turn their talons red. The battering ram's assault shook the ground below them and penetrated their ears.

Terrador noticed their arrival and quickly swooped down to them. "It took you long enough."

"You seem to be holding everything together. Is every non-combatant secure?"

"Most of them, they were still trickling in before we left but we have a group of guards clearing houses as we speak." He explained, shaking bits of grublin off his mace. "If we don't destroy that battering ram then we would be forced to retreat. We simply don't have the bodies to hold them off let only repel them."

"We can't destroy it, its too close to the catapults and launching a raid across the wall is suicidal." Volteer landed beside him, blooded from his fight with the wyvern. "We need fire dragons reinforcing the seal.

"The lock won't matter if they kick down the door. There has to be a way to decommission the ram."

Another strike from the ram caved the doors in slightly, proving Eclipse's point. A siege tower struck one of the catapults, making it tumble to the ground.

"We need to protect the catapults, without them we stand little chance of holding the walls." Spyro spoke up with his eyes focused on the dead mole in the gunner seat.

"He's right, I'll get Cynder and, with our flights, we'll defend the last two catapults." Eclipse agreed before shortly running towards the gates. The ram struck again, caving more of the doors in.

"You're not doing much here, we need to defend the catapults!" He yelled to the students holding the doors. They all removed themselves from the door, taking to the skies almost instantly.

"The gate won't last under this pressure." Cynder told him after the gate was struck again.

"I know, but right now we need to keep those catapults intact. If we lose them-" Cyril let loose his ice breath on the gates, interrupting Eclipse. More ice dragons joined him as they tried to build an ice wall in front of the gate. The deafening sound of the gate breaking filled their ears as ram finally broke through. Grublin blades began hammering against the wall of ice but the cracks didn't last long under the ice dragon's breath.

"Go, protect the catapults! We'll hold them here as long as we can." He paused for a moment before returning to the wall. Cynder and Eclipse went to walls, slicing their way through groups of grublins as they went.

He flung a grublin behind him with Cynder grabbing it and redirecting it into a group of grublins. He let loose a torrent of black fire, engulfing grublins attacking one of his students. Cynder jumped over the black fire and decapitated another group of grublins before helping the student up. Grabbing onto one of the wyverns, he pulled it to the ground and used it to defend against the incoming grublin attacks.

He threw the corpse at them, knocking them over before releasing more black fire. She was back by his side again with a cocky grin. She spat her poison onto the body of a another one, shiftly bashing it to the side and off the walls. The walls trembled as the ram struck the ice wall below them. The grublin soldiers were scaling the walls, using their bodies as ladders for the assault.

Ardere with the other two fire students rained fire on the soldiers, trying to no hit the ice wall behind the grublins. The ram shook the walls again with a another strike on the ice wall, large cracks forming from the site of impact. Eclipse caught one of the student's tail before he could be sent over the edge. More ice dragons joined the defense on the ground, reinforcing the ones already focusing on the ice wall.

"It won't hold forever, they don't have the mana reserves to keep this up." Ardere voiced his concern before continuing the torch grublins.

"Focus your fire on the battering ram, burn it down!" He commanded, pointing to the center of the ram. Older dragons began to join the line, adding their collective fire breath to the mix. Cynder fought behind them, destroying any grublin that attempted to interrupt them.

The ram struck the wall again, this time sending one of the older dragons over the edge and to the army below. He almost caught himself with his wings but the horde of grublins jumped onto him, stabbing him with their weapons, preventing flight. The cry of agony was cut short with his death.

They stopped for a moment with disbelief but Eclipse ordered them to quickly continue. The grublins had to restart their efforts to climb the walls with them all disassembling to kill the falling dragon. He joined Cynder in her guarding efforts, as more wyverns kept dropping more grublins onto the walls.

A thundering crack rang in his ears. He rushed to the other side of the wall and watched as the wall came tumbling down. There was virtually nothing between the army and the center of the city.


	11. Chapter 11

The army was already vaulting over the chunks of ice before the wall was completely down. Ice dragons were already engaging the invaders in close combat, while others were pulling away from the horde. Spyro and Cyril were in the thick of it, becoming completely surrounded in a matter of seconds. They stood their ground however, using everything they had to fight them off.

Cynder was off the wall before Eclipse could address her and the fire dragons soon followed. They strafed large trails of fire among the grublin army, burning everything in their wake. He witnessed another fire dragon be shot down by a bowman, plummeting to the street below and almost instantly being swarmed.

Eclipse chased after them, hoping off the wall and taking flight. He dodged all the arrows that threatened to take him out of the air. Grublins threw weapons, rubble, even parts of dead comrades at the dragons in the air. The blades brushed his sides, making him slowly bleed onto the battle below.

A wyvern collided with him mid-air and grappled him to the ground. The force of impact killed the wyvern but he landed in the middle of the horde. The grublins around him stopped for a moment, simply looked at him. It didn't last a second longer.

With wide strokes he forced them back, clearing a circle around himself. A brave grublin charged forward, his weapon raised in the air. A flick of his tailblade brought the creature down with ease. As it fell, two more went forward in the same fashion but they just as easily dispatched. An arrow found itself in his shoulder, causing him to growl with impact. Another arrow pinged off his helmet and with quick movements, he grabbed it and threw it at a charging grublin. Grublin blades continued to assault him, arrows kept finding the gaps in his armor, his plates began to weaken from consistent strikes.

Black fire erupted from his mouth and covered the few unlucky ones who were in front of him. He wiped around, flinging the stream of dark fire around him and catching the ones that were too slow. Another ring was quickly formed around him but this too only lasted a moment. They converged on him with the overwhelming force of a tidal wave. Something took his legs out from under him, pushing him to be flat on the ground.

Grublin feet assault his exposed stomach, sending blunt forces of pain through his body. Grublin swords continued to bash away at his plates, slowly breaking the metal casing. As another torrent of black fire shot up his throat, a grublin kicked his head making it dissipate into nothing.

Time stopped for a moment when he saw Cynder fight through the horde towards him. _**Get up.**_

Strength rushed through his beaten and bruised muscles, reinvigorating his entire body. The fire returned in his throat, hotter than ever, and with a deep growl he released it onto his assaulters. They squealed in pain as it covered their flesh, burning their bodies to nothing but ash. His limbs found their way upward with his wings pulling him into the sky shortly after. A grublin troll nearly hit him out of the air, but a instinctive roll kept him airborne.

The troll swung again, finding its mark but not before being lit ablaze. His landing was more graceful than the first one, instead using the momentum to decapitate several grublins. There were no cries of agony, only grunts of exertion as the troll went after him again. The fist came down, barely giving him time to roll out of the way. It came rushing towards him with alarming speed, uprooting the cobblestones in the road. He flipped over it while glancing the troll's arm with his blade.

A grublin came behind him, jabbing it's crude spear towards his back. He countered with his own blade, swiftly shoving it through the grublin's center. The troll's frustrated roar brought his attention back to the hulking beast. He flung the grublin at the troll before ducking under it's hand. More black fire greeting the troll when it threw the body away, encasing it's entire head. The troll swatted at the stream of flame, trying to stop the burning assault.

He stopped the fire, instead he started running towards the troll while raking his talons across the ground. Dust, grublin parts, and small pieces of rock collected in his paw and as the troll's eyes locked on to him, he flung the debris into his face. Jumping at the same time, he collided with the blinded troll's head, making him topple over. Using the beast's shoulder as a boost, he lept into the air again, rising high above the downed troll. As gravity carried him back down he angled himself downwards, reaching for the troll's head with his talons. He felt it's skull break below him and his talons puncture the soft mass that was it's brain. Using the skull as a springboard much like the shoulder, he catapulted himself off it's head and onto the backs of two grublins. Cynder stood in front of him as he landed, looking semi-impressed at his actions.

"Could've done better." She mocked before stabbing a charging grublin grunt.

"I'm a little rusty, what can I say." He shrugged then threw the bodies onto more grunts.

"We're holding them here, but this won't last long. They'll overwhelm us soon." He watched another ice dragon fall to the horde with her words. The wall forces were also starting to get worn down, he saw the bodies of some of the students mixed in with the fragments of grublin. _We can't hold the walls and the courtyard._ _ **Not with the gate down, no.**_

"Get everyone off the walls and bring them to the second line. We'll try and hold them here a while longer." He commanded, swirling around to decapitate more grunts. She nodded to him, taking off shortly afterwards.

"INCOMING!" A siege tower round met the ground and exploded, sending both grublins and dragons flying. Time began to crawl at a snail's pace while the sounds of battle faded behind a dull ringing.

He looked around the battlefield, watching the battle slowly unfold in slow motion. Moles were sent flying backwards by a troll's cobbled hand. A shield-bearer deflected both fire and electricity upwards with his shield. A dragon was shot mid-flight and came crashing down, her body creating a trail of blood in the stones, she was dead on impact. Terrador crushed a grublin under his tail mace, Cyril was freezing grunts in their place, and Volteer chained his lightning breath among them.

Everything sped up, his blade finding its way into the center of a grunt before flinging it away. Black fire poured from his mouth, burning the arrows that threatened to find the spaces between plates. He rushed the bowmen in question, rolling under their second volley. His blade swiftly disarmed both of them of their crossbows before they could load again. A sharp pain shot through his side as one of the bowmen punctured his armor. He whirled around both dislodging the sword and relinquishing the bowmen of his head.

The second bowman missed his lunge, giving Eclipse the opportunity to cut him in half. He ended it by jamming his blade through it's skull. More grunts rushed forward but were swept aside by the upper half of the recently deceased bowman. Their corpses shattered upon impact, sending grublin bits in every direction.

Spyro crushed a grunt with a crack as he landed besides him. Spyro's armor was also battered like his, dents and punctures decorated the plates like medals. Blood ran down the side of his head and dropped off his chin.

"They won't stop coming." Spyro's breaths were labored. Eclipse slashed three grublins across the chest, instantly imploding them with his talons before turning to him.

"Cynder's pulling our forces off the walls, we're falling back to the second line." Spyro threw a grunt into the air with his horns. A wyvern somehow grabbed the grublin mid-air and continued onwards.

"If we abandon the walls then the siege towers can fire on us unchallenged." He pointed out as he impaled a grunt with an ice spike.

"If we stay here then the walls will fall all the same but with more casualties. We don't have the bodies to sustain this melee and protect the catapults at the same time." He explained, destroying more grunts as they charged them.

"We'll suffer more loses to siege tower fire if we retreat!"

"We'll all lose if we stay here! The longer we get bogged down here the more soldiers we lose!" Eclipse shouted back. "They have the numbers Spyro! The best chance now is to regroup and hold them at the second line!" Spyro shook his head with a snort, jumping into the air shortly afterwards.

He swatted away a grunt when it attempted to puncture his chestplate. His tail flared backwards, sending more grunts to the ground. Swiftly flipping backwards onto them, extending his talons into their backs. Cognition of events slowly faded, being replaced with a blind fury of fire and blade.

Grubin warriors continued to swarm into the city, barely being held back by the combined dragon and mole forces. The unrelenting barrage of siege tower rounds sent chunks of building, road, and soldier throughout the air. More and more dragons met their ends along their mole allies, painting the ground red with their blood. The sky cried black from the smoke of ruined buildings, the smell of death radiated in the air, and the metallic taste of dragon blood ran along survivor's tongues.

"PULL BACK!" The order broke through the chaos of the brutal melee.

Eclipse looked up from the broken face of the shield-bearer, his pupils reflected the adrenaline that coursed through his veins. With a savage stab of his talons, the shield-bearer broke apart below him. He saw dragons lift off into the air with moles on their backs but he didn't follow them into the air.

He whirled around, spinning like a tornado with his tail extended out. Grunts, shield-bearers, and bowmen alike imploded upon impact of the blade, some letting out pained screams as they did so.

A troll smashed the ground next to him, throwing off his balance. The second hand came around, but a roll caused it to miss its target. The blade separated the back legs from the knees before finding a place on the beast's thigh. He used his blade as a climbing hock, launching himself onto the creature's back. Fire erupted from his mouth as he spun around, coating the back of its neck and burning away it's green flesh.

The troll grabbed him, throwing him off like a dragonet's bouncy ball. He rolled across the ground, knocking over tens of grublins before disappearing and reappearing on it's back once more. His talons dug into the burnt backside of the troll, causing it to groan in pain. It's hand tried to grab him again, only finding its own neck. Just like the first troll, his tail blade broke through the beast's skull. It crushed a troop of grublin grunts as it fell to the ground with Eclipse on top. He rolled into the fall, destroying more grunts as he went. His talons flared forwards as he finished his roll but they stopped short of it's target.

Blue, sapphire eyes met him instead of the familiar deep red of the grublin horde. White scales contradicted the monotones green and red of the battlefield. Her calm smile sent confusion through his brain, bringing him out of his blind rampage. His mind spun circles around her presence, trying to understand why she was here. He didn't notice the shimmer of yellow that briefly passed over her eyes.

"NO!" Someone contested when he reached for her. Her smile shifted into something more evil but he still didn't notice. He was suddenly launched into the air backwards, his helmet flying off with the sudden force. The surreal feeling was shattered with the devastating impact with the ground. His roll was everything less than uncontrolled, the leftover force sending him bouncing across the ground like a river rock.

The world wouldn't stop spinning when his eyes reopened. She approached him with the same smile spread across her face. White scales faded to a familiar red, sapphire shifted to the bright amber of his enemy. Dazed dots connected in his spinning thoughts and the cruel realization reached him. It was Armavir.

" **All to easy.** " He laughed, raising his blood soaked talons. His body didn't listen to his pleas to move out of the way. His magic joined his body in defiance, no fire came up his throat and his body remained where it was.

Cynder swooped from above with her own talons outstretched but Armavir simply grabbed her by the throat. His smile somehow widened with sick satisfaction as she struggled for air. Her pained gasps fueled his attempts to get up, rage building in his chest. Armavir turned his attention to him, pushed him under his other paw with ease. He angled his head upwards, fire returning to the back of his throat. Armavir released him, allowing him to stand and the fire to surge forwards. His paw came back down upon Eclipse's back with what felt like the might of Terrador's mace. The fire was extinguished and the strength in his legs went with it, leaving him with feeble attempts to resist.

" **You really are a shell of you former self.** " His stated went struck him like a knife.

Spyro struck Armavir's back, making him release both of them as he staggered. Spyro raced after him, seemingly made of fire and rage. The two dragons met each other with a slam of their bodies, trading blows on impact. Cynder rushed to his side, her breathing still laboring from the strangling. She nuzzled under his neck, nudging him up. Spyro came sliding back to them but Armavir held his ground.

" **What happened to you two? You were forces to be reckoned with before, now you can't stand up to the likes of me.** " He taunted. Eclipse struggled to stand with Cynder helping him with her wing.

"You played dirty."

" **That didn't stop you from defeating me before. Now you're nothing. Only a shadow of a legend.** " His words snaked their way into his mind.

"A shadow of a monster." He corrected

" **Is that what you think you are? You were mythical, no one could harm you at the peak of your power and long afterwards.** " He scoffed, bringing his paw to his forehead. " **You've become weak, all because some dragoness weaseled her way into your heart. Even Cynder didn't bring you down to this.** "

"Finish it then."

" **Not like this, it would be too easy. My army is going to break your remaining forces at any minute and all I would need to do is end the three of you. No, this is not where it ends for you. There are still pieces I need you for.** "

"Then why do this?" Spyro got up in front of them.

" **A message.** "

"All this so you could get a point across?" He stomped his paw down.

" **You're guardians will understand.** " Armavir let out a roar, ringing through the streets of Warfang. Grublins of all sizes went running out of the city, leaving utter destruction in their wake. Armavir smiled at them as his army rushed around them. " **Until next time.** " He mockingly bowed before casually walking out of the broken gate. Leaving them with all the death and their first real defeat.


	12. Chapter 12

A storm replaced Armavir's presence over the city. The rain washed away the pools of blood and piles of grublin parts, leaving the bodies of the fallen behind. The flickers of lightning illuminated the battlefield, teasing them with the task of recovery. Thunder yelled at them overhead, scolding them because of their defeat.

He felt the drops of rain touch his scales through the holes in his armor, making him shiver with the sudden chill. His body ached and burned, protesting him standing. He didn't want to lean on Cynder too much, he didn't know if she could take his weight along with her own. That didn't stop him from draping a wing over her back.

She was bloodied and bruised just like everyone else. Various punctures were stained with a tint of red, the liquid life running off her with the rain. She looked up at him with a grim expression, motioning to Spyro who was still standing ahead of them.

He wasn't even sure if he was breathing, let alone if he was all there. Spyro was rooted to the ground, staring at the broken gate. He didn't share their defeated stature instead he stayed in his defensive posture, as if waiting for Armavir and his army to return. He didn't say anything to them, simply stared into the void beyond the shattered defenses. Cynder brought him forward, besides the stunned Spyro.

"We'll come back from this Spyro, don't worry." He placed a paw on his exposed shoulder.

"What did he mean?" His voice was cold, filled to the brim with venom.

"He could've meant anything, Armavir doesn't seem to be in the right mind." Cynder defended him.

"Did you not hear him? What he said?" Spyro looked at them over his shoulder. "He still needs him." He pushed his paw off.

"I don't know what he meant. All the power has unstabilized him." Eclipse had Cynder bring him in front of Spyro. "As she said, he could've meant anything maybe even nothing."

"Then what's the point of saying it in the first place?" He snarled.

"To do this." He gestured to him. "To fracture us."

"How can you fracture something that's already shattered?" His eyes darted between the two of them, hints of jealousy subtly filling the purple orbs. "As you said we're not friends."

"Now's not the time for this conversation." Cydner tried pulling Eclipse away but he held firm.

"Spyro, we're not doing this right now."

"What shouldn't we be doing right now?" Spyro shoved him off Cynder. He tried to catch himself but his back legs gave out beneath him.

"Spyro!" Cynder copied him, pushing Spyro back then going to Eclipse.

"This is what he wants. The two of us ripping each other apart." He struggled to stand. "Are you really going to give him what he wants?"

"This has been too long overdue." Spyro approached him.

"Stop!" Cynder shoved him back again.

"Stop what?" He laughed.

"He can barely stand!" She pushed him again.

"People like him shouldn't be allowed to stand for all he's done." His eyes locked on to his, the jealousy turned into anger among the many swirling emotions.

"All he's done? This is not the time for this!" She tried to push him again but he stood still.

"Is this what the great 'Father of Darkness' does? Let others fight his battles?" He shouted around her, more venom filling the sharp words.

"Stop it! Just leave!" She tried turning him around with little success.

"Leave now? No, no, no. I'm just getting started." He pushed past her, pushing Eclipse back down.

"Spyro! Leave!" She tugged at his tail, only to be shook off.

"I've stayed silent for too long, I'm sick and tired of seeing you making the wrong decision!" He shouted, facing her.

"The wrong decision?" She stepped back.

"What makes him better than me? Ever since I saved you from Malefor, all I've ever done is help you!"

"Is this what this is about? What's wrong with you?"

"What is wrong with me Cynder? Why do you chose him over me, what has he done that I haven't?" He grabbed her shoulders with his wings. "I need to know!"

"Get off of me!" She pushed his wings off her.

"I don't understand. He's a monster!"

 _ **Don't let him speak of us like this.**_ _I can't stop him._

"He's not a monster!" She fired back.

 _ **You're going to let her do all the protecting?**_ _I can't do anything._

"You have the audacity to say that after everyone he's killed. All the fear and death he created in Malefor's name!"

 _Tell me what to do._ _ **Give him what he wants.**_

"He didn't have a choice!" She flared her wings out, shielding him from Spyro.

 _ **Tell him what he wants to hear.**_

"He did have a choice and he chose to wipe out entire colonies of dragons. He is nothing but a mass murderer!"

 _I am nothing because the_ _**darkness is everything**_

Eclipse began to laugh.

Cynder's wings dropped back to her sides, revealing both her and Spyro's confused expressions. "Eclipse?" She stepped towards him as he steadily raised himself off the ground.

"What are you laughing at?" Spyro's words were spilling out hatred, each letter more filled than the last.

"You really are just pathetic. Aren't you?" His maniacal laughter was replaced with a grin. He stood up alone without any of his legs buckling like before. "Concerning yourself with what a dragoness thinks of you."

"You're the only one here who's pathetic!" He shot back.

"Oh really?"

"Taking pride in your ability to scare dragonets and take life."

"How many apes and grublins did you kill during your adventures?" His grin grew at the silence. "Did you honestly think that you weren't feared by more soldiers? You were just like me for my side."

"I'm nothing like you!"

"Didn't you kill Gual after he surrendered? Didn't you brualize any ape or grublin that stood in your way? Didn't you help release Malefor from the Well of Souls?" Spyro went silent, squeezing his eyes closed.

"Eclipse, stop." Cynder still stood between them.

"Stop?" He laughed at her. "We both know what I think of mercy."

"You can't do this now." She placed a paw on his chest.

"I'm done letting you hold me back." He pushed her aside and stepped towards the purple dragon. "No one will hold me back from him." Black wisps began circling around his legs like a vortex.

"Using your precious darkness as a shield now? To think you were the topic of everyone's nightmares for so long." Spyro shook his head and looked at him. The wisps fell off his legs and snaked towards the rapidly darkening purple dragon.

"To think that you were the savior of the dragon race. Too bad Cynder did most of the work and you got all the credit." His smile grew larger as Spyro snarled at him.

"I did everything! I'm the one that **saved everyone!** " His purple iris' gave way to a milky white filling while his scales faded to black.

"You're scared."

" **I've never been scared of you.** "

"You're scared of what the guardians will think."

" **No I'm not!** "

"You're scared of what the city thinks of you."

" **Everyone loves me more than you!** "

"You're scared of that I'm better than you."

" **You're nothing compared to me!** "

"You're afraid that Cynder is afraid of you."

" **Cynder?** " He looked to her only for her to look away. " **What have you done to her?** "

"The only person that's done something to her is you."

" **I haven't done anything to her! I know what you're doing!** "

"Oh really?" He smiled again, the wisps wrapped around Spyro's legs.

" **I know everything about you're darkness, the fear, the corruption in your heart.** " He didn't notice the wisps tightening like rope. " **You're using it on her!** " He tried to jump at him but the wisps held him in place. Confusion returned to his face as he looked down, before being overtaken by fear.

"You claim to know about my darkness but..." Eclipse surged forward, grabbing Spyro's neck. "... **you know nothing.** " He held him there for a moment, his smile widening as Spyro began gasping for air. The wisps let go of Spyro, letting Eclipse throw him to the ground at a his feet. He laughed as Spyro scrambled to get up, before grabbing his tail in his mouth.

He spun him around like a lasso, taking a moment to enjoy the blood in his mouth, before letting him go and sending him into a wall. The force and weight behind Spyro's body cracked the wall with an audible thud. Spyro groggily got up, wobbling slightly and shaking his head. He locked onto Eclipse approaching him, summoning fire to his throat. He pushed his eyes closed as he released the torrent of fire. Eclipse darted to the side before moving back in to grab him by the snout. He forced his muzzle up, throwing all the fire into the raging storm above. The clouds turned a dark orange as the fire penetrated their underbellies.

Spyro opened his eyes with shock, watching his flames burn the air rather than the dragon it was aimed at. He swung his tail around, connecting it with Eclipse's hind leg. The black dragon's leg took him down, forcing him to let go of Spyro. The fire ceased, instead ice shot out at him. He rolled sideways, hearing the spikes bounce off the ground where he once was.

Spyro turned his head like a turret, keeping the spikes just behind Eclipse's roll. He rolled forward, pouncing on him from underneath his spray. They toppled over, Eclipse landing on top of him. He moved his head out of the way of Eclipse's talons, narrowly dodging the white knives. He slid them over the side of his neck leaving three red streaks in their wake.

He kicked his stomach with his back legs, pushing him off him. Eclipse recovered mid air, turning it into a flip and landing on his feet. Spyro quickly got up, bracing himself for the fight in front of him. Eclipse only smiled back at him, his demeanor being calm and passive compared to Spyro's tense and defensive tone.

" **No wonder the ancestors had to save you.** " Eclipse taunted with a small laugh.

" **They don't need to save me now.** " His threat made him laugh more.

" **Your empty threats bring out your fear.** "

Spyro roared in response, sprinting towards him like a raging bull. His smile grew, side stepping as he tripped him, sending him head first to the ground. He was back on his feet almost as quickly, swiveling to face him once again.

" **You think you're such a great warrior, don't you?** " Spyro questioned, more rage entering his voice.

" **I'm clearly better than you.** " He mocked.

" **Then why haven't you killed me yet?** " He mocked back.

" **Everyone makes mistakes, I'll make sure not to make another one.** " His smile sent Spyro at him again. He stepped out of the way again, this time wrapping his tail around Spyro's hind leg. With a strong tug, Spyro lost his footing and fell onto the ground. Eclipse spun around, letting go of him and sent him flying again. He righted himself in the air, opening his wings, he hovered above the ground.

Spyro rushed down towards him, talons stretched out for Eclipse's head. Eclipse disappeared before his eyes, becoming one with the shadows casted by the dim light. Moments later something landed on his back, using it's weight to crush him between it and the ground. He knew what it was and whipped around yet nothing was there. He got up, studying the surroundings for him. He began appearing everywhere he looked, his laughter coming from seemingly every direction.

He was in front of him for a moment, his smile wider than ever. Eclipse spun around, throwing his blade out to catch Spyro's cheek. He disappeared immediately afterwards, just before the blood slid down to his chin.

He kept flickering around him, lashing out with his talons or blade before disappearing once again. Spyro roared in frustration, beginning to whip his head around, sending flames in every direction he could. Eclipse met his fire with his own black flames and the two collided, spiraling into the air in a mixture of black and orange.

The combined heat washed over their bodies and scorched the stones beneath the beams of fire. The burning snaked out as if it was trying to escape the heat of the colliding flames. The column of fire illuminated the sky, stealing away the lightning's light show around them. They stopped at the same time, ending the column of fire and the burning sensation on the ground. Heavy breathing dominated their ears as their stared at each other, both having the matching white eyes. A clap of thunder drowned out the breathing, and Eclipse disappeared with it.

He appeared in front of Spyro, running full speed towards him. Spyro matched his speed, lowering his head to ram him with his horns. Eclipse went into a spin, moving around him like water. His tail blade went along his, cutting through scales with a sickening ripping sound. A sound of pain filled his ears along with Spyro skidding across the ground.

Electricity entered his body, locking his muscles in place as it made connected. Pain accompanied the stiff feeling in his body, threatening to shut down his brain. Yet, his smile only widened as the stiff feeling faded. He was used to it.

He turned towards the Spyro, his scales and eyes now their normal royal purple. Fear controlled his eyes, replacing the previous rage and hatred. Slow steps was all he could muster, the electric energy desperately tried to make him stop. It arched along his scales, showing off their bright yellow glow.

The bolts electricity died off, Spyro's magic reserves finally being emptied and useless, however he kept his pace. Every step doubled the fear radiating off of his body, feeding into Eclipse's darker desires.

" **The legendary Spyro, the Savior of the Realms.** "

"Eclipse, stop. I'm sorry, okay?" He pleaded, trying to pick himself off the ground.

" **Why should I stop? You didn't.** " He reached him, pushing him against the ground. " **Why start something you can't finish?** " A soft chuckle escaped his lips.

"I didn't want this."

" **Liar.** " He put his other paw to the side of his head, causing him to wince. " **You're terrible at hiding your emotions. You've wanted me dead almost the moment I spoke to Cynder.** " He shook his head with his paw. " **Being controlled by envy, oh how the mighty have fallen.** " He pressed his head down more. " **I wonder what I should do with you.** " He contemplated the crossing of thoughts in his head. " **If I end this now then I won't get to see you suffer with everyone rejecting you, but if I'm too impatient to wait that long.** **Decisions, decisions.** "

"Eclipse?" Her voice shattered the world around him almost like glass. He stepped off Spyro, his scales becoming distinguishable again. Silver conquered the blinding white in his eyes, surrounding the black of his pupils. The thoughts in his mind disappeared, instead, pictures of what her face would look like when he turned around.

 _What have I done?_

"Come back to me." He felt her begin to run a paw along his side, relaxing the muscles as she went. More representations of her disappointment flooded his mind, clouding other thoughts.

 _Why can't I stop this part of me?_

"Stay with me." A wing replaced her paw on his back, as it ran up the back of his neck.

 _I will hurt her._

"Everything will be okay." He looked down, avoiding her eyes as she rounded in front of him.

"I'm sorry." He took off into the sky without looking directly into her eyes. He closed his eyes, ignoring her pleas to stay. His wings flapped up and down as hard as they could, raising him higher and further away from her. Her pleas faded from his ears, as Warfang was swallowed by the distance behind him.


	13. Chapter 13

She watched him disappear into the raging storm, signalling his departure with a loud clap. Aurora continued to yell after him, even attempting to join him in the storm but she stopped her. She gave both of them a disgusted glare before taking off, leaving in both anger and sadness.

"What were you thinking?" Her ridged tone made him wince.

"I didn't want this. I was just frustrated and everything started to snowball out of control." He sighed. "I didn't want to hurt Eclipse."

"You did more than that." She looked back in the direction he disappeared in. "You broke him. I'm not even sure why you're still alive, he should've killed you." She shook her head at him. "You're lucky that I did get here with Aurora, I have no doubt that he would've killed you if I didn't."

"Thank you for that." He tried getting up.

"You can thank me by helping me get him back." She pushed him back down. "Wait until the medics get here with red crystals, I'll find you when I'm ready to go."

"Do you think he'll come back?"

"You should worry about if he doesn't." She didn't mean for it to sound like a threat but she went after Aurora before he could respond. Part of her want to scream at Spyro, telling him how much she hates him for letting jealousy control him and chase away Eclipse. The other part knew better than to kick him while he's down, he knew the magnitude of what he's done.

The storm attempted to throw her around, throwing strong gusts of winds into her sides and back. Heavy rain crashed on her back, soaking her black scales and red wings. More thunder clashed over her head as if telling her to turn back. This storm seemed to be more hostile than the previous ones. _Maybe the spike in dark energy is causing this?_

She managed to set down on the small balcony with some difficulty, the storm almost pushing her into the wall. Lightning lit up the dim room for a moment, allowing her to see Aurora's silhouette. She braced herself for the conversation ahead of her then opened the glass door.

Aurora didn't seem to acknowledge her entrance, simply staring into the flickering fire. She studied her while closing the door behind her. She didn't seem to be depressed or angry, almost in a cold calmness. That cold calmness seemed to form a sheet of ice between them, she didn't know what to say. _Apologize? Ask if she's alright?_

"He's never really run like this before." She spoke over the pounding rain drops. Her voice seemed to be empty of any emotions that Cynder thought she would be having. "No matter how bad it got or how hard it was to fight it, he always stayed. Yes, he would walk off to be alone but this is new."

"I'm sorry for letting it go too far." She sat next to her, deciding it was best to not to make eye contact yet. "I should've put a stop to it. I just-"

"There's nothing to apologize for. He made the decision to take the approach he did, not you." Aurora cut her off, grasping her nearest paw. "If anything it's Spyro's fault for taking it that far."

"I should've done something to stop them. I just let them fight."

"What could you have done. If you had stepped in, you would've certainly died. What happened down there was a clash of titans to say the least." She lightly patted the top of her paw.

"I should've put an end to it though, he started it because of me."

"Something tells me that isn't the case Cynder. While you were a catalyst, Spyro has more reasons for wanting to fight or kill him." She reassured her. "None of it was your fault."

"Everything that's happened between them is my fault."

She sighed. "It's no secret that you and Eclipse still have some sort of connection. It's also not a secret that Spyro does have feelings for you and is quite jealous of Eclipse. They both care for you, deeply. It's just that Spyro feels that he's going to lose you and that thought scares him. You're the last thing he lives for, you know this." Memories of their final confrontation with Malefor appeared in her head, his words reverberating around with an echo.

"I guess I've forgotten."

"Do you love him? Do you truly understand what it means to be with this version of him?" She met her eyes. "I understand the past you share with him, but the past is the past and he's not who he once was."

"I do."

"You do what? I need to hear you say it." Her voice was suddenly more rigid than she's heard from her.

"I do love him. He's strong and gentle, dedicated, understanding, brave-"

"I know what he is…" Her aggressiveness cut her off. "...but the battle he's fighting, the one he fights everyday and everynight. I fear that most people don't understand it, how much it drains him and how dangerous it is."

"You don't understand what it's like to have someone else in your head."

"You're right, and truthfully I don't want to, but the difference between you and him is that you had the luxury of the corruption not trying as hard. It was like a switch in the first month, he would be calm one moment then holding his head on the ground in the next." She explained, looking back into the fire. "He told me it was like a constant headache, as if someone was grabbing his head and trying to crush it."

"What about now?"

"He told me that he hasn't really experienced them. He would rub his head and get a little irritated sometimes but nothing compared to what it was like before." She sighed.

"Why all the concern then?"

"Because of what happened today, all the built up stress and the drain finally broke him. Listen, when he comes back and you want to pursue him, I won't stop you. You have more in common with him than I do." Her smile caught her off guard. "Just respect his wishes if he comes back and would rather stay with me, or even go off with someone else."

"You think he'll come back?" The question dissolved Aurora's smile along with her entire comfortable demeanour. She shifted, adjusting herself to fully face her.

"He'll come back, he always came back before. Why would he stop now?" She tried to hide her uncertainty but Cynder knew what was really going through her mind. The same thoughts ran through her mind, debating amongst each other on whether he will come back. "You're worried, aren't you?"

"Shouldn't I be? I just saw two of my best friends fight over me, both of which were perfectly ready to kill each other." She snickered a little. "I wanted it to be a nightmare when I realized they were actually going to fight."

"If only we were so lucky." Silence followed shortly after, rebuilding a barrier between them. She stared at her for a moment, trying to decipher what was going on in her thoughts. _She's so calm, as if nothing had happened today. How can she be so collected?_ Her eyes drifted to the fire, it's crackling becoming the only noise in the room. She jumped back as her eyes landed on the strange white flames.

She didn't know that fire could become such a pure white color, almost like the snow from Dante's Freezer. It behaved like normal fire, giving off the same amount of heat and light, but it felt strangely comforting. As if it was trying to burn away all the stress and pressure she was feeling.

Aurora stared blankly into the dancing flames, her eyes becoming encased in it's white glow. Her smile had once again vanished and was replaced by a cold seriousness. The wind picked up outside, howling in anger outside the windows. Another lightning bolt struck somewhere outside, followed quickly by more booming thunder. She didn't react however, instead continuing to stare into the fire.

"Aurora?" She didn't respond to her. "Aurora." Cynder shook her shoulder but she continued to be ignored. She stood in front of her and shook her more violently. "Aurora!"

She blinked at her, bringing her paw to rest on her forehead. She winced slightly while shaking her head. "I guess I zoned out."

"Yeah and the fire turned-" Looking back at the fire, she noticed that it had returned to deep orange. "...nevermind. You're okay right?"

"I'm fine. As I said, I just spaced out a bit." She laughed embarrassingly. The storm died down outside with the wind calming down and the rain came down more sparingly. "I hate storms, especially thunderstorms."

"Same, they make my wings feel heavy when I have to fly in one." Cydner giggled with her.

"Eclipse is afraid of the thunder, told me that it reminds him of the sound of Malefor's steps. He would always hold me tighter when there was a thunderstorm while we slept." The two laughed again.

"We never had the time to sleep together after we were promoted, we were either doing some task for Gual or on the opposite sides of the realms." The fond memories brought on a small smile.

"I'm surprised he slept considering how horrible it was in the army."

"He didn't really sleep, it was more keeping guard while pretending to sleep. I guess that's why he's such a heavy sleeper, perhaps the sixteen years of little sleep is catching up with him." She remembered watching him all night, waiting to see if he would actually fall asleep. Instead he stayed awake the entire night, waiting for her to fall asleep.

"Where do you think he is?" She asked.

"I would like to think he's somewhere thinking everything over, but something tells me he's doing something foolish." Cynder's predictions erased her light smile.

"He's alone, hurt and probably a little scared. I'm worried about him." She voiced her concerns and Cynder subconsciously agreed.

"So let's go after him." Frost quickly shut the door behind him and Ardere, the rain pelting the door after them. "We have to."

"During this storm? We would never find him in this." Cynder motioned to the increased volume of rain.

"The four of us flew through worse on our way here." He showed her a cocky grin.

"He's right, this is nothing compared to the other side of the continent, or the storms." Ardere elbowed Frost with a laugh.

"All joking aside…" He elbowed Ardere the same way. "... we owe him our lives. He would go after any one of us if we ran off, so why shouldn't we?"

"Listen, I'm more than happy to go get him, but as your instructor I can't bring you out there. The dark army is still out there and this storm makes it hard to fly and see, it's too dangerous." She rose from her seat on the floor.

"Don't go pulling rank on us now. We're both older and more experienced in handling storms like these than you." Ardere deadpanned with a lazy glare.

"Guess you have a point there."

"Well Aurora. You going to help us find him?" He offered. She looked back into the fire and for a moment it flickered white.

"You're asking as if I'll say no." She got up and walked over to the door. It swung open, revealing a drenched and panting Spyro. He tried to step into the room with them but Aurora stood in his way.

"If you're going after him, I'm coming with you. I owe him that much."

"You owe him more than that." She shamed him, causing him to droop his head. "I should've let him kill you."

"Aurora?" Frost forced her away, letting him in.

"He comes with us." She moved past them and onto the balcony, quickly leaping off. Ardere and Frost soon followed, jumping into the raging storm.

"You'll be lucky if she forgives you." She pushed past him.

"I know." He closed the door behind them, keeping the storm out of the room. "I-"

"DON'T." She sighed. "I can't stand to listen to your apologies right now." She left him there, flying after the trio. His wing beats reached her ears but he didn't say anything to her. They caught up to them above the ruined battlefield, with Aurora holding a paw over her mouth as she saw the extent of the damage.

She counted seven of the student's bodies, each of them bloodied and mangled in different ways. Riddled with arrows or cuts, horns cracked, limbs twisted in unnatural ways, one was even missing his entire wing. They decided to land for a moment, Ardere and Frost grimly helping recover their friends. She could see how hurt the two were but they said nothing when they lifted off a short time later.

It was silent leaving Warfang, or at least she didn't hear anyone talking. She didn't feel like talking to anyone at the moment anyway. The realization that in the first battle, at least seven of her friends died. The war now held a darker presence in the back of her mind and the thought of losing more weighed heavy on her heart. She hated being a leader, she didn't like feeling this amount of grief.

The storm continued it's assault as they flew, gusts of wind and rain alike tried to steer them off course or knock them to the ground. Spyro struggled to keep up with them, he was still feeling the after effects of facing Eclipse. His flaps were more rugged than usual and his limbs were more hanging than being held up. He gave her a small smile and if she wasn't furious with him then she returned the smile back.

Ardere and Frost started to whisper to each other ahead of her, with the rain and thunder it was nearly impossible to hear them. Though she knew they were talking about what happened after the battle, their occasional looks back at Spyro told her that much. There was also the slight steam that came off of Ardere as the rain landed on his back, he was angry but he didn't want to show it.

Aurora began to dip towards the ground without warning. They followed her into the tree canopy, quietly landing on the branches. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness and through the leaves she saw why they had stopped. It was Armavir with what looked like a few of the larger grublins, he was talking to someone she couldn't see.

" **Why are you so slow?** " He complained. " **Well could you hurry up? The sooner we get there, the sooner you stop being my problem.** "

"Stop rushing, it's not like they can afford to face your army after the battle." It was Eclipse, he finally walked within view. He didn't have any chains, nothing was keeping him with Armavir, he wasn't a prisoner. She saw Frost and Ardere nod at each other but they didn't say anything. Aurora had covered her mouth with one of her paws.

" **You need to listen to me, you're supposed to be my prisoner.** " He demanded but Eclipse laughed at him.

"We both know that he won't believe that you managed to capture me. So when you bring me to him, be a good lap dog and shut up while we talk." Eclipse tried to keep walking but he stopped him.

" **I am no one's lap dog.** " He snarled.

"I find it hard to believe that a full siege was your idea." He taunted further.

" **I could kill you.** " Armavir brought his talons to Eclipse's throat. " **It would certainly save me the torture of hearing you talk.** "

"Now that wouldn't be any fun would it?" With a pat on the cheek, he turned away. "As amusing as it would be to see you try to kill me again, I'm afraid my life is already reserved for someone else."

" **I don't care for some obscene prophecy.** " He moved in front of him. " **I will end you here if you continue to slow me down.** "

"With the amount of times you've threatened me…" Eclipse walked past him, out of her sight

" **I'm not scared of you or him!** " Armavir charged after him, leaving her sight as well.

They waited for the rest of the army to pass where they were hiding, staying completely silent as the army trudged by. Spyro was the first to drop to the ground, followed by the other two. She looked at Aurora, moving closer to speak to her but she gave her a strange look before joining the other three.

"He's a traitor." Spyro told them as Cynder dropped to the ground.

"I refuse to believe that it's that simple." Frost shook his head at the ground.

"Well it is, we should head back and inform the Guardians."

"Stop trying to impress them. Ancestors, you're just as bad as a antsy dragonet with its parents." Aurora pushed him to the side. "I know that there's a reason for this. I'm going to find out what it is with Cynder and if you want to help be my guest." She looked at Frost and Ardere. "I don't care what he does, but if either of you leave for Warfang, you'll both be dead to me."

"Are you okay? You're usually not this…"

"Aggressive." Ardere finished for him.

"I'm fine, I would just rather go get Eclipse than sit here and debate on which part of the guardians I want to lick." She glared at Spyro who quickly shied away.

"C'mon Aurora, give him some slack." Frost stood between them.

"Give him slack? I don't see why I should, sorry I'm not exactly being like the little sister you want me to be but I'm not going to forgive him for this. What if he did this to Nathora, huh? Would you be so quick to forgive?" She pushed herself against him.

"I don't see how that applies here."

"I don't see how you can defend him! You're going to choose him over Eclipse? After everything he's done for us, you turn your back?" She started pushing him with her chest.

"I'm not turning my back on him, all I'm saying is stop badgering Spyro on something he very clearly regrets!" He put his head over her, pushing her back.

"I don't care if he regrets it. He needs to know that it wasn't right what he did and I'm going to make sure it gets through that thick skull of his so he doesn't do it again!"

"Both of you stop!" Cynder pried them off each other, looking between them. "Let's worry about Spyro after we figure out what's going on with Eclipse."

"There would be nothing to figure out…" The dragon in question appeared before them. "...if you paid attention." He let a dark smile lay across his face as a dart struck Spyro's neck. He wobbly started towards Eclipse, but he collapsed to the ground within two steps. More darts shot out of the trees, finding everyone else's neck. She quickly pulled the dart out then threw it at him. The dart was swallowed by the darkness before it could hit him, making him smile more. The world started to spin and turn while her legs got more and more weak.

She tried to speak but nothing came out as she fell on the ground. Grublins emerged from the trees with blowsticks in hand. They began to pick up their catch, one by one, everyone else was carried out of sight. He stopped them from picking up her and Aurora, waving them off before they touched them. He leaned down and caressed Aurora's check before looking into Cynder's eyes.

"You should've stayed away." He whispered, closing her eyelids with his talons. She was too weak to reopen them or resist when something hoisted her up.

The sounds of movement was the only indication that they were being moved. It wasn't obvious how much time passed or where they were going but wherever it was, it was far away. The rain came to a sudden stop, instead being replaced by cold and stagnant air. It felt like she was being taken down, she was in the caves. It was cold at first but as time went on, the faint traces of heat told her that there was torches along the walls.

" **You're far too protective of her.** " Armavir's voice broke through the silence. From how close it sounded, she guessed that he was carrying her on his back. More sounds made their way into her ears, waving fire and heavy steps surrounded her. Her eyes remained shut however, denying her the ability to see anything.

"I can extend my veil over anyone I want." His voice was defensive and low, but it was comforting to know that he could still care.

" **You protect a coward and a traitor, Ma-** "

"You will lose your talking privileges if you don't stop calling them that." The rough growl sent shivers down her spine.

" **Your threats mean nothing. I would've killed you if not for your 'friends'.** "

"Last time, you used underhanded tactics. Hardly a fair fight." He kept his voice rough.

" **You worry about honor too much.** "

"It's not honor, its called integrity. Something cowards know nothing about."

" **I'm no coward.** " Armavir's growl was deeper than his but held less weight behind it.

"Let's have master decide on that." Her eyes opened and the dull orange ground greeted her. It was like the rest of her body was shut off, she couldn't move anything else than her eyes.

Aurora was indeed being carried by Eclipse, her unconscious body slung over his back and lightly bounced with every step. The others were somewhere ahead of them but the closest thing she could see was the end of Spyro's tail. Something cold grabbed her chin and made her look at Eclipse.

The first thing she noticed was his eyes, they were silver. _He's here willingly, he's doing this willingly._ Nothing about his appearance suggested that he was under the influence, he even smiled at her. It made her feel strange, like she wanted her heart to skip a beat but didn't want it to at the same time.

Armavir dropped her on the rough floor before proceeding further. The others soon followed, still unconscious from whatever was in those darts. Most of her body began to slowly wake up and letting her get a greater view of the room.

It was a large cavern with several support pillars dotted around the space. Torches circled around the pillars, providing light for most of the central room. The group laid at the foot of an ascending set of stairs that lead to a large stone throne. Braziers paralleled the side of the throne, illuminating the dark crystal in front of it.

Eclipse looked back at her before joining Armavir on the rising steps, it was a look of apology and regret. They climbed together, step by step, until they were just below the dark crystal and it's platform. Armavir went down into a bow, dipping his head to nearly rest it on the steps. He looked down at her again before following the example, almost perfectly matching his posture with Armavir's.

The crystal flickered dimly with light, an image was struggling to be projected. Orange fire changed to violet within the braziers and a select few of torches. All the affected flames were drawn towards the crystal, almost jumping towards it. The flickers grew brighter and stronger, before cutting out entirely.

Everyone else started coming around, adjusting themselves after their forced slumber. She caught Aurora as she stumbled sideways into her, bringing her eyes to meet with the bowing dragons. Spyro, Frost and Ardere followed their gaze upwards, they to finding both Armavir and Eclipse on the altar.

"Eclipse?" Aurora called out but he stayed down. "What are you doing?"

" **Isn't it obvious?** " A disembodied voice echo through the cavern and caused both Armavir and Eclipse to rise. The crystal renewed its flickering, quickly growing brighter until it seemed to rival the sun. The group looked away, shielding their eyes from the blinding light. An explosion replaced the light, sending shards of the dark crystal outwards and into the cavern. Cynder looked to where the crystal once was and saw yellow eyes staring back. " **He's bowing to his new master.** "

"The ancestors sealed you in the realms core. How did you escape?" Spyro shocked and confused eyes matched what Cynder was feeling.

" **I have to thank you and Eclipse for that. If not for such a massive influx of dark energy, I would've been imprisoned for a much longer than a few months.** " Malefor slowly descended with Eclipse and Armavir behind him. " **If not for you, then I wouldn't have my wonderful Eclipse with me either. I must express my gratitude for you Spyro, I can now pick up where I left off without losing much time. So as a reward for helping me seize my power again so quickly...** " He looked to Armavir as they reached the bottom. " **How should he die?** "

" **Master?** " He cocked his head.

" **Your incompetence for not taking the city or dealing with the traitors must be punished. If not for Eclipse returning to my service then I might've let you live. I digress, tell me Spyro, how should he die?** " The Dark Master shoved him forward with his tail, presenting him to the younger dragon.

" **L** et m **e** ki **ll** **h** im ma **st** er! **I c** an m **ak** e i **t** **a** s pa **inf** ul a **s** **y** ou w **an** t!" Eclipse's sudden excitement caught her off guard, as well as the conflict in his voice. He stumbled backwards and shook his head, almost tripping on the stairs. "N **o!** "

" **You'll come around eventually.** " Malefor watched as he struggled with himself before turning back to them. " **I'm quickly growing impatient. Tell me now or I do it myself.** " He pushed Armavir down, bringing his talons to rest on his throat.

"Let Eclipse do it. He deserves it."

"Spyro!" Cynder protested but he silenced her with a defeated look.

" **You heard the dragon Eclipse! End him however you like.** " He commanded, letting Armavir up.

" **O** f co **ur** se mast **er,** **w** ith ple **as** ur **e.** " His stumbling stopped, instead he stalked towards his target. Wisps peeled off his scales as he slowly approached, slithering ahead of him.

" **Master! Please! I can make it right, let me kill the imposter or the traitor. I'll do anything! Ju-** " Eclipse pounced on him, toppling the larger dragon onto his back. The wisps wrapped themselves around the dragons limbs, foiling his attempts of escape. Panic spread to his white eyes as his struggles increased. Eclipse licked his lips and stared down at him in a strange, hungry way. His talons sunk past the dragons scales, blood spurting onto the black surfaces. Armavir cried in pain, further increasing his attempts to get away.

Aurora hid her face into Cynder's shoulder and she covered her with her wing, trying to block out what was happening before them. Spyro, Frost and Ardere watched on, a mixture of disgust and interest covering their faces. She didn't know what to make of the scene. This was supposed to be Eclipse, the loving and caring dragon that wanted nothing more than to be accepted. At the same time, something was almost definitely wrong with him, the way he was torturing him suggested that much.

" **I, however, would rather deal with our esteemed guests sooner rather than later.** " Malefor sighed, picking bits of red scales out of his talons.

" **Fi** ne…" He sounded almost disappointed at the command. "... **I w** as **jus** t h **avi** ng fu **n** to **o.** "

" **MERCY!** " Armavir pleaded.

" **Mer** cy?" He leaned down. "Y **o** u don' **t** **de** serve **to** sa **y s** uch **a** wo **rd** **af** ter w **ha** t you' **ve** **d** one." A dark smile sent more shivers down her body. With lighting fast speed, he brought his mouth down on Armavir's throat then ripped it out. He spat it out in utter disgust before jumping of the body and returning to Malefor's side.

" **Now that that's over, we must return to the business at hand.** "

"Why? Why didn't you come back? Why go back to him of all dragons?" Aurora questioned, breaking away from Cynder. "We could've gone through it together, just like everything else."

" **You are naive girl, can't-** " Malefor stooped when Eclipse stepped in front of him, slightly smiling. " **Tell them the truth.** "

"He can cure me Aurora. He can get rid of this 'thing' inside me that's breaking me down. Isn't that what you want as well, for us to be normal and happy. It will make me whole again, it can-" He stopped for a moment, as if to search for words. "I can finally be free. He owes me that much."

" **You've grown shy of admitting your past. You use to be so proud of where you came from.** " Malefor laughed behind him.

"Don't."

" **Don't you think that they deserve to know what you are? After all these are the dragons that look to you for guidance.** " He continued casually.

"What does he mean Eclipse?" Aurora tried to look at his now hung face.

" **You mean to tell me that she doesn't even know? How can this relationship blossom if you had such important information from your other half?** "

"I-I was going to tell you at some point. When we were alone and when i felt you were safe enough."

"What do you mean when I was safe enough?" She stepped closer.

"When you were safe enough from me and my history."

" **You want to know why he came to me, dear Aurora?** " He leveled his face with hers. " **Because when concerned with such matters…** " He drew out the end of the word like a snake. " **... a son can really only trust his father.** "


	14. Chapter 14

"You're his son?" Spyro's disbelief made Eclipse wince and look away. Malefor brought his head back up, a satisfied smile crossed his face. "That doesn't make sense, no one would want to be with you."

" **You forget young dragon. I was not always what you call 'corrupted', I was just like you all those centuries ago.** " He pushed Eclipse behind him, taking their attention for himself. " **I was the ancestor's prime pupil, honored as a hero among the people. Then one day I met this dragoness, the most beautiful one I've ever seen. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, we were mates and expecting an egg.** "

"Then why betray everyone? Betray your mate for what? Power."

" **On the night of laying Eclipse's egg, another dragon broke into our home and was trying to steal our belongings. While I was away, training with the ancestors, my Eclissi was not so fortunate.** " He seemed to actually be something resembling emotion, looking back at Eclipse as if he was grieving. " **I returned in time to kill the dragon before he could make the final blow. The egg was cracked and she was dying from blood loss. She died in my arms, making me swear to raise our dragonet to be as brave as her and as strong as myself. I took it a step further, I wanted to create a world where no one has to go through what I did, to raise everyone to be better.** " That emotion left him as he turned back to the group. " **Is it so wrong to bring your child up in a world where they don't have to feel sadness or grief? So that they can love someone, without having to fear losing them as I lost Eclissi?** "

"It doesn't justify what you did." Spyro continued. "You killed thousands of people just because someone killed your mate."

" **How many would you kill if someone killed Cynder, hmm?** " He silenced him. " **Didn't you wish to kill me once Ignitus died in the Belt of Fire?** **Weren't you ready to die after I took her back? Didn't you try to kill Eclipse after you convinced yourself that both him and Cynder were having an affair?** "

"That's not the same." He shook his head. "I didn't murder innocents."

" **What was he guilty of other than being subject to your jealousy and insecurity?** " Malefor pointed at Eclipse with his wing. " **Tell me, I grow curious of what he's done to wrong you.** "

"Nothing, he's one nothing." His defeated sigh answered.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Aurora tried to look at Eclipse's hung face but he hid it well.

"I would've told you eventually, I just wanted know that we work out. I feared that you would look at me like the monster I was and I didn't want that." He rose his head to meet her gaze, his silver eyes were now replaced with maroon red. "If I lost you…" His voice trailed off as he dropped his head again. "...I would have nothing to fight for. I may have feelings for Cynder, but you're the one that I can't live without." The words hurt her, but she respected them. She knew it from the moment they kissed outside the guardian chambers. She was a stubborn memory that refused to leave, a fragment of the past he wanted to forget.

"I'm not going anywhere..." She grabbed his face and lifted it up so that she could see it. "...but right now, you need to fix this mess. We'll talk about us when we go back to Warfang okay? I promise."

" **DON'T SPEAK TO ME LIKE YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE.** " They were interrupted by Malefor shouts, followed shortly by him launching Spyro into the air. With a thud, he began rolling across the stone floor, coming to a stop with his unconscious face to the ground. The rest of the group moved to recover him, with Aurora checking to make sure he was alive. " **Eclipse...** " He turned to him, his eyes slowly fading to white. " **...if you complete two important tasks for me than you will be freed of my influence.** " Yellow eyes watched them closely. " **Kill the false purple dragon and the traitor then you can live have your life back.** "

"Master, I-" She knew he wasn't agreeing with the orders.

" **EITHER YOU KILL THEM OR YOU WILL FOREVER BE A MONSTER.** "

The conflict showed on his face, he was debating with himself on what decision to make. She knew it wasn't easy to choose between his real family and his adoptive one. Going through with Malefor's orders meant the end of both her and Spyro, there was nothing she could do against him even with Spyro helped. Going against Malefor also meant he would surely have to fight him, and he taught him everything.

Malefor whispered into his ear, a secret message being passed between them. A smile formed on his face as the words passed from his lips. He was lying to his own son but he knew that he would be believed. Eclipse's breathing became ragged with anger and his faint pupils dilated through the white light covering them. No doubt that his mind was becoming wrapped with Malefor's dark seduction.

A step forward and the visible gathering of dark energy confirmed her fears, he had chosen Malefor. Dark energy arced along his merged scales like electricity, black wisps circled around his legs and his tail dragged it's blade on the ground. The stone floor cracked under his footsteps with his talons sinking in as if it was flesh.

Ardere and Frost looked at her and Spyro, then to each other. With a silent nod they stood up and placed themselves in his path. Fire curled across Ardere's body, encasing him in a blanket of flame. Frost's body began to radiate a freezing temperature, the torch light reflecting off his blue scales.

"We need to get you two out of here, can you help me carry him?" Aurora began to put Spyro's wing of her back.

"I'm not leaving them here, he'll kill them." Cynder looked at the two as they stared down Eclipse's approach.

"He'll kill you and him if you two stay. Then there will be no one to stop him and Malefor from finishing what they started." Aurora tried to lift him but he was too heavy for just her.

" **No one is leaving.** " His voice stopped Aurora in her tracks, instead she turned her head towards him. " **Not until I get what I want.** "

"You'll have to go through us to get to them." Ardere argued.

" **Oh? You think you can stop me?** " He narrowed his eyes. " **That's adorable.** "

"You don't want to do this. You don't want to hurt us or kill them." Frost froze the ground in front of him, causing him to stop behind the line.

" **Do I?** " He brought a paw to his chest. " **While you are right that I don't wish to hurt either of you, I will do what must be done to complete my mission.** "

"I don't want to fight you, we've gone through too much to fight now." Ardere stepped slightly ahead of Frost. "You're not acting like the Eclipse I followed into battle or grown to call my friend."

" **Friends?** " He laughed before stepping across the frozen ground. " **You want me to believe that we were friends? I may have been locked away for a few centuries but I know when someone hates me as much as you do.** "

"Hate you? Eclipse, we've stood behind you for months. We've fought and bled with you and you're going to forsake that for a father who's used you for hundreds of years?" Frost matched Ardere's step forward.

" **Is that what you call it? Standing by me?** " He stopped again, this time a few feet in front of them. " **You did nothing but take me for granted.** "

"Take you for granted? You're letting him twist your mind Eclipse. Do you remember nothing of what we've gone through those five months?"

"I remember everything."

"Then why are we your enemy? The real enemy is standing behind you, turning you against us!" Frost motioned towards Malefor, who continued to look pleased at the events unfolding.

" **My real enemy?** " He looked at the ground for a moment. " **My real enemy is the so called savior you're protecting. He's taken everything from me, everything that I've cared for since being released. He's blinded you to his sins, to who he really is and now he's turned you all against me. I've given everything I had to you and this is how you repay my generosity? I betrayed everything I am, everything I knew, so that I could have these last few months with the three of you. How did you think I felt, when I had to surrender my body to fight him? When I let myself fall just to protect you, or when I gave my life to ensure that you three had a fighting chance? I emptied myself for you and you took advantage of it. My utter loyalty…** " He brought his eyes up and rested them on Ardere, who looked away. " **...my complete trust.** " Frost too shied away from his gaze. " **...even my shattered heart...** " She knew that he meant that for Aurora but he didn't look at her. " **...and it was all thrown away because you couldn't forgive my past.** "

"We didn't thr-"

" **I never thought I could shatter into so many pieces, but this is how I bring myself back together. I'm done with telling myself to hold back…** " The sheet of ice behind him melted. " **... to be something I could never be…** " The dark energy redirected itself to arc onto the ground around him. " **... I am done being weak.** "

He moved quickly, colliding the blunt end of his tail against the side of Frost's head. At the same time, he pushed himself off the ground and over Ardere's stream of fire. Ardere angled the stream after him, the flames barely missing the tip of his tail. Frost rolled on the ground for a moment, before letting off his own breath at the black dragon. He rolled when he landed, the tops of his horns becoming covering in a thin sheet of ice.

Ardere cut of his flames and charged forward with his head down. Heat curled over his head as he sped covered the short distance. Eclipse swirled around him, sending him head first over his tail. Frost tackled him to the ground and together they struggled for physical dominance, talons and teeth catching the torch light. Eclipse grabbed his arm and with a smooth movement, threw him off and righted himself.

Ardere quickly replaced the ice dragon however, pushing him to the ground before he could react. Frost righted himself midair and skidded across the ground, his talons carving into the stone. Orange and black flames collided in the small ball, shifting around each other in their own dance. With a strong kick from his back legs, Eclipse shoved him off and towards Frost. The two dragons smashed into each other, knocking Frost off his feet.

He was quick to recover, with Frost pushing off the ground and launching himself towards Eclipse. The black wisps shot out from his legs, quickly entangling him and dropping him to the ground. Ardere found his target, his paws using his weight to topple Eclipse over. He landed on top of him, pinning him down with all his might. The wisps released Frost before wrapping themselves around Ardere. They dragged him off of Eclipse, flinging him towards the group.

Cynder watched as Ardere landed next to her, his blood slowly leaking from the scrapes of battle. Frost struggled to get up, his arms shakingly holding him up. The wisps rapidly snaked towards him. They crawled low to the ground like predators then ran up his weak limbs. He started to gasp for air as the wisps tighten their grip around his neck. Eclipse sat up and narrowed his eyes at Frost. The wisps released his neck, letting him breathe clearly again. Frost was then fling towards them with the might of a adult dragon.

She stopped his rapid rolling with her paw, his body was also covered in rough scratches and oozing cuts. He was breathing heavy and his eyes spoke more words than he could form in his mouth. "We tried."

"I know." She reassured him before stepping over him, leaving them with Aurora. Their eyes followed her when she stood slightly ahead of them. It was her turn to be the wall between them and Eclipse, only difference was that she was one of his targets.

" **Cynder…** " His voice trailed off as he stood. The hallowed sound was filled with sadness and grief.

"For twelve years it was you and me against the rest of the world." Forgotten memories reverberated through her head. His dark form giving her old smiles and holding her close during some of those cold nights. Her then young mind remembered feeling his leather wings encase her in under his veil of darkness.

" **You were the only light in Malefor's darkness during those times.** " They stared at each other, their eyes meeting somewhere in the middle.

"Those were better, more simple, times." A shy smile crossed both of their faces. "Is this it?"

" **Twelve years and we never came to blows.** " His small laugh filled her with a bit of hope. " **I guess this is it.** " Then the hope was gone.

"Are we really going to do this?" She asked, memories of his loyalty threatening to make her break at the thought of fighting him.

" **Just step aside and I won't hurt you.** "

"We both know I can't do that." She shook her head slowly, tears welling at the corner of her eyes.

" **Don't make me do this Cyn, please.** " He begged.

"I'm sorry." She apologized as a tear dropped from her cheek.

" **So am I.** " Eclipse disappeared in front of her, reappearing inches from her face. " **Forgive me.** " He pressed forward and for a moment they locked lips, but she didn't want it like this.

She broke from the kiss with a jump backwards, more tears leaving from her eyes. He surged forward, the wisps racing alongside him towards her. She twirled, the wisps missing their mark on her body and her blade finding his cheek. It ripped through his scales and a small amount of his blood stained the blade as it left. Her talon found their way on to his tail and pulled him away from the group.

The wisps circled back around, grabbing onto back legs and yanked them out from under her. He flipped in the air, gracefully landing on his paws without a sound. The stone floor stopped her decent, sending rough pain through her side. The wisps retreated to their master as he stared at her on the ground.

She saw the regret and sorrow in his eyes as he stepped forward. Her legs found their strength, pushing her on her paws. Wind circled around in her throat and with all the strength she dared to muster, she pointed it at him. He stopped in his tracks, instead opting to cock his head at her. The gust stopped dead before it even left her mouth.

The wisps jumped towards her but she melted into her shadow before they reached her. She felt her front paws push on his underbelly as she lept up to the surface. His talons reached down and grabbed onto the closest arm they could find. The world moved in slow motion, as he pulled her out from under him and threw her away. Her wings caught her in the air, stabilizing her before she hit the ground.

His cold paws pushed her down on her back with his weight behind them. It was useless to struggle against him, he was stronger and heavier than her. Something broke in her when they landed, his body crushed her against the ground. Pain came from all over her body as seemingly every bone shattered into dust. Her mind threatened to shut down but she persisted against it's wishes.

He rolled off of her, as if he knew that she was out of the fight. Her legs wouldn't work, screaming at her whenever she tried to stand. She reached out and caught his back leg, using all the strength she had left to hold him there. All he gave her was a shallow but pained glance over his shoulder before shaking her feeble attempt off.

" **I didn't want this.** "

"I know, but I had to try." It wasn't right to be the one apologizing but she felt she had to.

" **I'm so sorry.** " His own apology seemed to be genuine. She watched him approach the group, the wisps falling off him as he did. Frost and Ardere rose of the ground, charging forward as they did. He didn't flinch, instead the wisps grabbed their limbs and hold them down. He looked down as he passed them, their pleas to stop falling on nothing but unaccepting ears.

Aurora stood between him and Spyro. They stood in silence, it was as if the world was holding its breath. Her blue eyes stared into his pale white, the silent message of defiance seemed to fill them. She stood tall in what everyone else viewed as the face of death. He dipped his head below hers, his front legs sliding out and putting him in a bow.

" **I can't do this.** " His words reached her ears, causing disbelief to drown her thoughts. " **I can't keep living like this.** "

"What are you-"

" **Kill me.** " He poked his head up, showing her his eyes. " **Kill me please.** "

"You know I can't do that." She placed a paw under his chin, raising him out of the bow. "I won't hurt you."

" **I don't know what to do. Tell me what I need to do.** " His eyes went soft with the pleas.

"I need you with me..." She pulled him in, lightly kissing him.

" **...and I need yo** u with me." He pulled back, the white glow leaving his eyes. The wisps around Frost and Ardere dissipated. His scales came back into view, reflecting the torch light like metal. "Thank you."

" **I will finish this myself.** " Malefor crossed the distance between him and them within seconds, rage plastered across his face. He smacked Eclipse to the side and raised his talons up. With a strong swing he turned white to red then sent Aurora into the sky with the blunt side of his tail. Eclipse caught her in the air, wrapping his wings around her body. They crashed onto to ground and rolled. Frost and Ardere retaliated almost instantly, viciously attacking the much larger dragon.

He opened his wings, laying her on the ground for him to see. Three large streaks ran down her chest, blood dripping to the stone below. The previously white scales were now painted red with the blood they were suppose to protect. His paws covered as much of the injury as possible, apply all the pressure he could.  
"No no no no, Aurora." It was his turn to start having tears welling up in his eyes. "You're going to be fine, just look at me."

"This is when I wish we stayed in bed today." Her small laugh made him smile slightly.

"We can stay in bed tomorrow, I promise." The tears slid down his face, soaking the smaller black scales.

"I don't think the doctor would allow you to sleep in my bed." She smiled as she placed a paw on his wounded cheek. "You're too large to fit anyway."

"You're going to be fine."

"You know I don't like it when you lie." Her smile faded, instead her own sorrow showed. "I love you."

"Tell me that in Warfang." The tears came faster, the corners of his eyes becoming distorted.

"Don't cry over me…" She wiped away some of his tears. "...only smile." Her eyelids closed, hiding the sapphires behind them. He let his tears fall on her for a moment, letting all the grief out. He placed a hard kiss on her forehead, then stood up and stopped the tears from flowing. He turned, his face filled with raw rage. The three looked at him, Frost and Ardere deciding to run behind him and to Aurora. Malefor looked on in a mixture of fear and pleasure.

"That was a mistake."

" **Why, because you let your emotions weaken you?** " His shallow cockyness quickly faded as Eclipse stepped forward.

"No," A vortex of dark energy swirled around him, sucking in energy from the entire room. A dark glow encased him, the arching energy making the ground crumble below his feet. The silver in his eyes gave way to a dark maroon, and red energy poured out of the corners of his eyes. Ice formed around his talons, hardening them more than normal dragon talons. A green liquid dripped off his teeth when as he released a menacing growl.

Loose rocks began to bounce on the ground, and a deep rumbling shook the entire room. The pillars cracked in multiple places but held firm against the shaking. Cracks form in the floor, with molten lava oozing out like blood. Torches feel from their scones along the walls, the small flames snuffing out on landing. "...because now **I don't have a reason to hold back.** "


	15. Chapter 15

Cynder was too focused on what was happening between Eclipse and Malefor to realize that Spyro was awake. He hoisted her onto his back, carrying her to where Ardere and Frost were trying to help Aurora. Frosts paws had turned red with Aurora's blood while Ardere was trying to keep her conscious. Just by looking at her it was easy to tell that she was barely hanging on. Father and son clashed somewhere behind them, their grunts and growls reaching her ears.

"We need to leave." Ardere looked at Spyro, his face filled with worry.

"I'm not… leaving without him." Aurora's weak voice barely made it above the fighting.

"If we don't leave now, she'll die of blood loss." He turned back to her, looking at Frost's attempt to save her.

"If we leave now, she has a chance but we can't wait for Eclipse." Frost began pulling her onto his back. "Quite frankly, if he loses, we'll have no chance of defeating Malefor."

Cynder slid off Spyro's back, collapsing to the ground when she tried to stand. She couldn't get her legs to work, they were useless. She felt useless. _I can't stand, I can't help him, I can't help Aurora…_ Spyro slid under her wing, taking most of her weight off her legs. His eyes expressed his silent understanding of what she wanted. He was hurt both physically and emotionally, battered by the skeletons she dug up.

"Get her home, we'll catch up." Frost and Ardere simply nodded, leaving as quickly as they could. Aurora traded glances with her as she passed, she knew what she wanted to say. "Are you sure?"

"Save him." He laid her down, allowing her to watch what was about to happen.

Malefor grabbed Eclipse off his back with his mouth, shaking him around like a ragdoll. Spyro run full force into Malefor's chest, causing him to drop him. Eclipse disappeared before he hit the ground, only his loose blood splashing on the cracked stone. He appeared in front of Malefor's nose, his tail spinning him around and slashing across the nostrils. The larger dragon took a step backwards, covering the new wound with one paw.

Spyro slammed into the other one, bringing him down with a large thud. Flames spued from the larger dragon's mouth, aimed at his smaller counterpart. He rolled away from it's path, barely escaping it's reach. Malefor turned it upwards but missed Eclipse as he had already disappeared once again.

He pushed himself off the ground before either one of them could continue their assault. Spyro came out from behind a pillar, running forward with his maw opened and icicles already shooting towards him. Eclipse came down on his head, his paws pushing him downwards with the force of gravity. The icicles barely penetrated through the purple scales in his chin, quickly losing their blue color and becoming covered in red.

Eclipse rolled off of his head, leaving red streaks with his tail as he descended. The controlled roll lost its grace when Malefor jerked his head up. Spyro missed his head, instead collided with his sliding paw and being sent into one of the pillars. Malefor punched the ground, the ground opening up and attempting to catch Eclipse in his roll. He disappeared just as the crack reached him, leaving nothing but open stone.

Spyro used the pillar as a launching point, throwing up an earth ball and smashing into Malefor's side. Bones broke on his impact and once again he stumbled away. He responded with another burst of fire from his jaws but these we caught by Spyro's own flames. The two streams of fire met in the middle, seeking to dominate each other.

Eclipse appeared besides her, affectionately nuzzling her cheek. His body was covered in blood, burns and various gashes. The ice over his talons had become cracked, the red wisps around his eyes had dissipated, and the shadow hiding his scales had weakened. The ruby red of his eyes grew soft, showing how much her presence scarred him.

" **Why didn't you leave?** " He kept his muzzle close to her, barely putting his voice above a whisper. " **It's dangerous for you here.** "

"Someone needed to watch your back." She smiled slightly.

" **What if I lose, he'll kill you.** " Emotion cracked his voice.

"Then don't lose." He nuzzled her again. "I don't think Aurora would be happy if I came back without you."

" **I'm sorry for not telling you about Malefor sooner.** "

"We'll talk about that another time. Go finish what you started." He nodded then disappeared.

Spyro's fire was overwhelmed, he had to jump out of the way of Malefor's stream. Eclipse appeared under his chin upside down, viciously jabbing his blade through the bottom of his mouth. Fire leaked through the new hole, burning him before he could drop away. He fell to the ground, quickly rolling away from Malefor's paw as he attempted to crush him. His other paw came around and smacked him away like a bug.

More icicles lodged themselves into his side, melting away at his internal heat. He turned around and snarling at Spyro who still had frost around his mouth. Malefor charged across the short distance, tossing the smaller dragon into the air. Eclipse jumped up and slammed into his head, bringing his jaws away from underneath Spyro.

Spyro recovered on his fall and floated in the air for a moment. He angled himself towards Malefor's head, stones flying up to surround him in a ball. Gravity carried him down, combining the weight of dragon and rock. Eclipse flipped to the other side of Malefor's muzzle and used his tail to force his head upwards.

The ball broke on impact, releasing Spyro from his cage. Shards of stone found gaps in the larger dragon's scales, sticking themselves into his flesh. In a roar of fury and pain, Malefor swung his tail around and caught Eclipse in one of his hind legs. He disappeared upon the blades puncturing his scales, his own roar of pain answering Malefor. Malefor grabbed Spyro and flung him across the room, making him land besides Cynder.

Eclipse reappeared above him, the edge of his blade now coated in the same green liquid from his mouth. He began flipping in mid air, wind curling around him as he was carried down. His blade ripped through one of Malefor's horns, proceeding then to slice through the metal sprouting out of his neck. Sizzling scales and flesh signalled that the acid was chewing away at him.

Landing on his back, Eclipse sunk his talons past the scales and held on as he attempted shake him off. He went into a roll and Eclipse disappeared before he was crushed under the larger, purple dragon. As Malefor righted himself, he reappeared in front of both of them. Spyro slowly got up from laying next to her and joined him in forming a body between her and the Dark Master.

The three of them stared at one another across the battle worn space. Heavy breaths and growing lava pools made the only sounds in the room. Shadows jumped onto Eclipse's scales while blood ran down Spyro's leg. Malefor's scales had stopped burning and his yellow eyes met Cynder's for a moment.

" **I thought you weren't holding back.** " He taunted out of his dark smile.

" **You need to suffer for those you had me kill.** " A mixture of blood and acid dripped of his teeth as he panted.

" **Righteousness doesn't suit you.** "

" **And mercy doesn't suit you.** "

" **I expected nothing less coming from my son.** " She heard the stone crack under Eclipse's talons.

" **You don't get to call me that.** " His growl seemed to reach lower than Malefor's voice.

" **I taught you everything. There is nothing you know that I haven't already mastered.** " Malefor was right, he had taught Eclipse nearly everything he knew.

" **You think you mastered the darkness?** " Black wisps swirled up his leg as he stepped forward. They latched onto his scales as if they were leeches. " **You think you mastered the dark elements and their power?** " Lava cooled around his feet, obsidian replacing the molten rock. " **You call yourself the Dark Master…** " The red wisps from early returned around his eyes. " **...but in reality, your nothing but an apprentice.** "

Eclipse rammed his head into Malefor's chest, sending him backwards. Spyro raced of to catch up after him. Eclipse's horns left green marks buried in his chest, steam poured out of the increasing wound. Malefor swung his blade around, aimed at Eclipse as he just stood before him. The wisps from his legs jumped in the blades path, completely stopping it before it could reach him.

Spyro jumped over him, ramming Malefor's chest again. Embers rose up from the impact, a black scorch mark being printed in the scales. The wisps threw the blade back at Malefor with enough force to send him spinning on his feet. He stumbled around, colliding with several of the pillars before falling.

Eclipse was on him again, this time he dug his talons deep into his shoulder. Spyro fell on top of him in another earth ball. Malefor let out another pained roar before rolling the two off him. He stood up quickly, launching another fire attack against his counterpart. The stream was cut short by another roar of pain as Eclipse slashed one of his legs with acid.

Spyro's fire reached the side of his face, burning away the scales and flesh on his face. He swung his blade again, this time launching Spyro back with the blunt side. His attention turned to Eclipse and with a electrified stomp, sent electricity running through him. The black dragon continued his assault despite this, spinning to slash one of the larger dragon's hind legs.

The younger purple dragon came running back, icicles firing out of his mouth. Slabs of ice struck Malefor's exposed skin, before evaporating into water. Wisps reach out of Eclipse and grabbed onto Malefor's neck, shoving him to the ground. Eclipse ran his acidic blade down Malefor's now exposed underbelly.

Shadows reached out of the ground and grabbed unto both of the younger dragons. He grabbed Spyro, throwing him into Eclipse and sending them both tumbling. Malefor struggled to get up, quickly turning to run towards Cynder. Spyro recovered from the tumble first, using Eclipse as a springboard to race after him. Malefor brought his blade around, angled to pierce right through her skull.

The blade and Spyro hit in the same moment, but only one found its target. Malefor wheeled sideways and one of his blades broke off his tail, lodging itself inside Eclipse. He stood still in front of her for what seemed like the longest second in her life. Ruby eyes caught her in their gaze before breaking away to look at he piece of metal. Blood was already running out of the wound.

Eclipse disappeared the next second, leaving the blade to drop onto the ground. He reappeared upon the Dark Master's back not a second later. His teeth dug into the back of his neck, both acid and blood spurting out on entry. Malefor tried to shake him off like before, only to have both Eclipse's talons and blade dig into his back.

Wisps wrapped around his legs, preventing him from going into another roll. He began to gag, liquid life coming up with the air. Streams of green acid broke through the other side of his neck. The wisps released him so he could fall onto his side. Eclipse released his grip on his neck, licking his lips clean of the red liquid. He jumped off of his former master, staring into his eyes as he landed next to his head. His eyes flashed red for a moment before his pupils shrank to pinpoints out of fear.

" **I told you that it was a mistake...** " With a savage strike, he slashed his former master's throat, coating it in greed acid. "... **and I won't let you make another one.** " Purple light radiated from Malefor's body as his life left him. It slowly circled Eclipse, forming a ball around him. As the light faded from Malefor, it all came crashing down on Eclipse. He screamed in pain as his body absorbed the blinding light.

As the light faded and her eyes could look towards them, she noticed that Malefor's body had vanished. It was as if he wasn't there to begin with, not even his blood was left behind. Eclipse stumbled for a moment, readjusting as Spyro caught him. Together, they limped to Cynder, supporting each other's weight.

" **It's finally over.** " Eclipse smiled weakly once they reach her. She saw the darkness already doing it's work on his body. He stood on his own but not without his legs wobbling slightly. With Spyro's help, he put Cynder on his back. " **We need to get you home.** "

They quickly ran up the tunnels, lava and crumbling rocks chasing after them. Eclipse led the way with Spyro bringing up behind him. Cydner's body began to question her consciousness as they went, her eyelids trying to close. He kept her talking as they tried to find the way out, making her tell him her plans once they returned.

She felt pebbles and embers on her back as they continued, increasing the already intense pain through her body. Spyro took the lead, quickly freezing the pools of lava over as they passed. Eclipse continued to ask her random question which prevented her from closing her eyes. His frantic voice kept her mind from shutting down.

Moonlight filled the path ahead, hope filling her broken body as they bolted through the tunnel towards it. The mountain groaned behind them when they finally broke out of their unstable grave. Eclipse laid her on the soft grass before collapsing in a exhausted heep next to her. Spyro quickly dropped down next to them, himself panting as hard as Eclipse.

"We did it." She heard Spyro's astonishment through his voice.

"Let's go home." She weakly smiled at him, staring into his purple eyes. Her smile faded when she looked back and saw Eclipse staring under the mountain.

His red wisps haven't faded from his eyes, instead they've grown more distinct. His scales were slowly fading under the coat of darkness. Acid had been pooling on his chin before dripping unto to a black spot on the grass. She felt the cold radiating from his body, some of the grass had began to freeze and die around him. As he turned to look at her, she saw his eyes were holding onto their red color. " **I can't go with you.** "

"What?" Spyro got up, standing in front of him. "You have to come with us."

" **Spyro, I'll kill you if I go back with you.** " He sounded like he had been defeated. " **I'll kill everyone in the city.** "

"No you won't, we just have to find a way to fix-"

" **You fix what isn't broken.** "

"What about Aurora? What is she going to think when we go back to her?" Spyro argued, his disbelief shining through.

" **She's probably dead by now.** "

"We don't know that, she could be alive and waiting for you to come back with us." He tried to reason but Eclipse shook his head.

" **I failed her. I failed my brothers. I failed Cynder. I failed everyone.** "

"You did the best you could. Just because-"

" **I LET HIM HURT HER SPYRO.** " Spyro stepped back, nearly falling over her. " **I let him take away the one thing I had left to live for.** "

"Aurora could still be alive. If we go to Warfang then you can see for yourself." Spyro grabbed his shoulder. "You didn't know he would do that."

" **I didn't have to…** " He throw his paw of him. " **...I should've defended her either way.** "

"She'll forgive you."

" **I'm not looking for forgiveness from a dead dragoness.** " He turned around and stepped towards the entrance to the tunnels.

"Don't do it."

" **Promise me something Spyro.** " His ruby eyes looked over his shoulder to her.

"What?"

" **You'll keep them both safe. Aurora and Cynder.** " She tried to stand but her legs continued to rebel against her.

"You can do that yourself, just come with us. Please." Spyro begged him.

" **Just promise me.** "

"Ecli-"

" **Promise me.** "

Spyro let out a heavy sigh, looking back to her. She shook her head, her words failing to form in her mouth. "I'll keep them safe. I promise."

" **Thank you.** " Eclipse stepped into the mouth of the caves, turning to stare back at them. Cynder tried to get up again, instead she stumbled forward and fell down not even a foot from where she was before.

"Don't leave me like this Eclipse. I won't let you." She stumbled forward again but she fell down again.

" **This isn't goodbye. Think of it as a 'see you later'.** " He smiled at her. Tears finally broke through, slipping down her face as she tried to reach him. " **Tell Aurora that I love her. Okay?** "

"Tell her yourself. I won't do it, I won't do it when you can do it yourself." She was dragging herself towards him, her arms barely being able to pull her.

" **It'll be awhile before I can Cyn. Just let her know for me okay?** " He didn't what for her response. With a final nod towards Spyro, he walked deeper into the tunnels and out of sight. Spyro stepped forward and she instantly knew what he was going to do.

"Don't you dare Spyro. Don't you dare do it." He didn't listen to her pleas, instead he dropped a boulder to block the tunnels in. "NO!" She stopped moving forward, her body to broken and tired to carry her further. The tears flowed forward like a river and her sobs replaced the night's sounds around them.

Eclipse did everything for them, from making their days better to killing his own father to protect them. He's fought himself, his family, and his greatest fears so that they didn't have to. He's done nothing but help and protect them from the lasting evil in the realms. Now he's killing himself because he thought that he the next greatest danger to them all. She didn't want to accept that he's dead and there was nothing she could do to bring him back.


	16. Epilogue

Blue beams of sunlight peeked in through the curtains over the windows. They illuminated the bits of her sleeping form that weren't hid by his wing. The two of them laid in peaceful bliss, enjoying the company of one another. Normally, she wouldn't allow him this close but some nights she just wanted someone to be that close. His presence around her put an end of the night's terrors.

The nightmares had only gotten worse as the days and nights rolled past. Her mind tortured her with visions of possible futures and broken fragments of the past. All the sounds and feelings would come running back like sick nostalgia. Hopelessness would fill her when she realized what her mind had prepared each night.

Silver eyes and wide smiles would turn to dust under ruby and maroon, happy thoughts would shatter with the sound of thunder. Honied words filled with snake venom, warm touches chilled her to the bone. Joyful laughs woke her to fearful screams and relaxing smiles flooded her eyes with salty tears. Eclipse was gone, yet he wouldn't leave.

With a groan, his warmth left her. His shuffles to get up without disturbing her was amusing but she hid her smile. The door to the balcony opened and fresh air rushed in with excitement. Glorious smells from the market mixed in with the cool air, filling her with silent contentment. Emerald eyes opened, looking around the room for where her warmth had gone to.

Spyro sat alone on the balcony, head to the sky and listened to the city breathe. The scar along his side, proudly showed the world of his past actions. Out of everything he's done, every battle he fought, the worst one was the only one to leave him scarred. His once perfect purple scales, now twisted awkwardly around the old wond. It showed his imperfection, his weaknesses, but she didn't need to see it to know that.

They didn't talk for the first two weeks after everything happened, they decided to give each other some space. That all changed one night when he decided to visit her, instead he found her in the middle of a nightmare. He had laid down next to her, comforting her with his wing before he too feel asleep. She allowed him to sleep in her room after that, only allowing him to actually sleep next to her if she had a nightmare.

Various limbs popped as she stretch, a satisfied sigh escaping from between her lips. She smiled back at him, when she saw him with a small grin. He moved over for her, giving her enough space to sit next to him. She refrained from putting her head on his shoulder, much to her heart's requests.

She's slowly been warming back up to him since he closed the tunnels, but there was too much on her mind to ask him. The feelings were still there, the skip in heart beats at his smile and the joy in feeling him around her, she simply didn't feel right acting on them. That didn't stop her from placing a paw on top of his however.

He flinched slightly, trying to casually look down to see if it was real. "Last night seemed to be the worst one yet."

"Yeah, it was. I'm sorry if I woke you." She saw Aurora's room from where she sat, there was little signs of life in the room.

Aurora miraculously survived her injuries from Malefor, but she was still healing from what Eclipse left. His death broke her as much as it broke Cynder, she doesn't leave her room often. Usually she'll come out with them for food or to walk around the city, nothing more. The few instances where she's spoken about him, she's suggested that she too has nightmares.

"You weren't loud, mostly just mumbling and twitching. It just scared me how violent you were moving and the words that were I was able to hear clearly weren't exactly happy." His explanation didn't ease her mind in the slightest.

"I don't feel like teaching today." She huffed, making Spyro laugh. "Do you even know what day it is today?"

"I know, it's officially been two months." His laugh quickly died. "At least we're not being forced to fight again right?"

"Easy for you to say, you're the one teaching history today. I need to go through combat training with Ardere's firecrackers." She grumbled, another laugh making her look at him. "Who's idea was it to give him the youngest students?"

"I believe it was yours actually. You said it would 'calm his temper'." She lightly hit his chest.

Since Eclipse's death, the Academy was taken over by Spyro. His idea was to carry on for him, as his personal way to honor his sacrifice. Normal classes such as history and writing were being mixed to greater suit the time of peace. Of course they were still teaching their students how to fight, but it wasn't the main focus anymore.

Ardere, Frost and Nathora decided to stay and become instructors. Each of them taking on their own respective flights, ultimately allowing the Academy to accept more students. Together the four of them have stayed good friends, with them slowly bringing Spyro into their little circle.

Ardere is also being groomed to become the Elder Fire Guardian to replace Ignitus, he's slowly being taught by Terrador on what being an Elder Guardian means. He's also been getting more and more friendly with others, a side effect from being part of the Academy. Something about seeing him laugh more often than he used to makes her smile.

Frost has been training with Nathora whenever they're not at the Academy, he's attempting to become a scout like her. The two of them are inseparable outside of teaching their flights, much like how he was with Ardere when they first arrived. She's happy to see that he's blending in to the city just as well as Ardere.

Both her and Spyro decided to also disband the Onyx flight, Eclipse's flight while he was still here. Even though Ardere had volunteered to take the flight over, it was decided not to put him through trying to live up to him. He does however teach various smithing skills with Eclipse's old forge. The students still love to go out for the materials, even though these no more exciting action in them.

"You wanna go get her for breakfast? I'll meet you down there with everyone else." Spyro unfolded his wings behind her, the golden leather almost blocking out the sun.

"Yeah, I'll see you guys there." He took off in the direction of Ardere and Frost's room a moment later. She prepared mentally prepared herself for Aurora as she watched him fly away and disappear behind a handful of tall buildings.

Aurora has been sleeping more than usual lately, she's also been going through random mood swings. The white dragoness seems to get particularly nasty whenever Cynder or Nathora are around. She doesn't do anything such as trying to hurt them, she just acts abnormally harsh towards them.

As she landed, she heard Aurora's voice from inside. "Who are you?" That set off red flags instantly, she didn't want to wait. She threw open the door, only to be blinded by a intense flash of bright light. Her eyes adjusted to see that no one was there besides Aurora herself. "Cynder?"

"I heard you from outside, I thought someone snuck in and was trying to harm you." She closed the door behind her, paranoia making her check outside for anyone that shouldn't be.

"I'm not defenseless, I can handle myself reasonably enough." Her expression didn't share her confidence.

"I know that, I was just worried about you." She gave her a harmless smile. "Ready for breakfast?"

"Yeah, let's go." Aurora stroud past her and out the door. Cynder felt someone staring at her, but when she casted a glance over her shoulder she saw no one there. "You coming Cynder?"

"Yeah." Cynder smiled at her again, satisfying her enough to start towards the grand hall.

She however, stayed for a moment. A quick glance around the room showed nothing out of the ordinary, yet the feeling of being watched seemed to be coming from the room. It wasn't long before she closed the door behind her, accepting it as her own paranoia. The thought still stayed in her mind, that something was in there and it managed to vanish into thin air.


End file.
